The album 'A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry' was recorded in September and October 1957, but released in 1959 on the Bethlehem label, produced by Bob Shad. It features poet Langston Hughes reciting on two tracks, blending jazz and poetry.
This experimental work presents Mingus with a larger ensemble, including musicians such as trumpeter Clarence Shaw, saxophonist Shafi Hadi, and pianist Horace Parlan. The fusion of spoken poetry with jazz was innovative for its time.
Although not a commercial success at the time, the album is now recognized as a pioneering work in integrating spoken word with jazz, anticipating later movements of spoken word and avant-garde jazz.
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