​On September 17, 1962 three jazz legends met at Sound Makers Studio in mid-town Manhattan to make an album for United Artists Records. The three musicians were Duke Ellington, piano, Charles Mingus, bass and Max Roach, drums. The album was “Money Jungle.”

“Money Jungle” has seven tracks all of which are tunes either written by or strongly associated with Ellington. Ellington had approached producer Paul Douglas about making a piano trio recording and Douglas recommended Mingus as the bassist. Mingus then agreed and insisted that they ask Roach to play drums on the date. Mingus had sat in on bass for the Duke Ellington Orchestra some years earlier but had been fired after four days for getting into a fight with trombonist Juan Tizol.

When Mingus and Roach arrived for the session, they were given lead sheets and chord changes for each piece along with a description of what the musicians should be trying to represent through their playing. According to Max Roach one such description was “crawling around on the streets are serpents who have their heads up. These are agents and people who have exploited artists. Play that along with the music"

At one point during the session Mingus packed up his bass and left the studio. There are varying accounts of the reason for Mingus’ departure. One story is that Mingus was unhappy with the way Roach was playing, and another says that his unhappiness was due to Ellington not choosing any of his compositions for the session. Whatever the reason, Ellington went after him and persuaded him to return and finish recording.

The album was released in February 1963 and contemporary reviews of the album were mostly favorable, with some pointing out that there were obvious stylistic differences between the musicians. Later reviews have been more positive. The album has been re-released on CD with additional takes and additional tunes.

Here is a link to the title track from 1962’s “Money Jungle:”

"MONEY JUNGLE"