Gerald Veasley Releases Electric Mingus Project
Gerald Veasley has a new album out, one he calls a “re-imagination” of well-known tunes written by acclaimed jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus.
Electric Mingus Project features songs ranging from “Haitian Fight Song” to “Boogie Stop Shuffle”, and performed using instruments such as the EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument) and EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument).
Veasley says the album isn’t just a tribute to the legendary bassist/composer, but more of a musical snapshot of the group using Mingus’ “bluesy canvas.”
“We reacted to what was essential about Charles Mingus’ music,” he explains. “We never had an impulse to update or improve it, but instead tried to capture the feeling, which to me is adventurous, surprising, and passionate.”
The album also includes tracks of narration based on Mingus’ own words and two original compositions by Veasley. Plans for the group to tour during the summer and fall are in the works.
Electric Mingus Project Track List:
- Blue Cee
- Interlude- Let My Children Hear Music (feat. Kevin Wayns)
- Haitian Fight Song
- Better Get Hit In Your Soul
- Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love
- Interlude- Sounds (feat. Kevin Wayns)
- Canon
- Work Song
- Eighteen Sixty-Three
- Interlude- Color and Slavery (feat. Kevin Wayns)
- Blues For Mingus
- Boogie Stop Shuffle