* 1/2 VARIOUS ARTISTS “Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus” <i> Columbia</i>

Hal Willner, the master of concept albums, has taken on a big-time task with this curious melange of works by jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus. With a cast that includes such marquee names as Elvis Costello, Keith Richards, Dr. John, Leonard Cohen, Chuck D., Henry Rollins and Hubert Selby Jr., the project stands up and demands attention.

The question is whether the attention is directed toward Mingus’ often-eccentric compositions and prose (spoken excerpts from his autobiography, “Beneath the Underdog”) or toward the kaleidoscope of crashing individual styles and attitudes that dominate the production.

The answer is that Mingus’ compositions have been better served by any number of revivals, including, most recently, the Mingus Dynasty group and Gunther Schuller’s restoration of “Epitaph.” In addition, this album’s revisionist effort to reframe such pieces as “Work Song” and “Self Portrait in 3 Colors” via the pitch-variable instruments of Harry Partch underscores its misunderstanding of Mingus’ works.

What is really bothersome about the recording, however, is its implicit suggestion that this music--which includes some of the richest compositions ever produced in the jazz arena--cannot stand on its own. Fortunately, there are enough reissues of Mingus-supervised performances of many of these works to confirm their essential creative values.

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