One doesn't simply listen to this album. It's one of those albums that demands all of your attention. No you cannot read, work, eat, operate a vehicle, run, walk, jog, or dance to this music. So of course I am a bad person and have yet to carve out a little niche in my schedule for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. And because of this I still feel daunted every time I listen to this album (while doing something else, of course, because I've been doing wrong by the album). This statement coming from a great admirer of another ambitious album, A Love Supreme. You can't pigeonhole Mingus neatly into a genre, not on any of his albums. However, this one takes genre-bending about as far as it goes, pulling together elements of big band, bebop, avant-garde, traditional, ballet and who-knows-what-else.
Particularly in jazz, if your name is on an album then you are the focus. For piano, guitar, sax, and trumpet, it's pretty easy to establish yourself as the main attraction. Drummers and bassists have it a little different since other than Jaco Pastorius it's a little taxing to listen to music swamped with bass or drum solos. Sure, they're fun and should be included in jazz, but not the entire album! Realizing an entire album of bass solos, especially in the 1950's and 1960's probably wouldn't garner much attention, Mingus focused on his real gift, which is writing and arrangement. I've always been impressed by how Mingus writes for others, recognizing that bass alone does not make the album. In a similar way Art Blakey, a fantastic drummer, channeled much energy into band-leading and mentoring.
I think I just need to spend more quality time with this album and I'm sure I'll one day understand why this album frequently makes the top 10 in many jazz polls.
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