Mingus Ah Um: History and Key Facts

Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by the American jazz musician Charles Mingus. It was recorded in May 1959 and released that October through Columbia Records. It was Mingus' first album recorded for Columbia.

The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. It was ranked 380th on the 2020 edition of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The cover features a painting by S. Neil Fujita.

The title is a corruption of an imaginary Latin declension. It is common for Latin students to memorize Latin adjectives by first saying the masculine nominative (usually ending in "-us"), then the feminine nominative ("-a"), and finally the neuter nominative singular ("-um")—implying a transformation of his name, Mingus, Minga, Mingum.

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