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Charles Mingus
An Oral Presentation by Emily Watzl
Early Life
 Born in Nogales, AZ on April 22, 1922
 Mom only allowed church music at home
 Despite this, developed an early love for other music, especially
Ellington
 Studied trombone and cello
 Unable to make a career out of the latter
 Studied bass with Red Callender in late 30s
 Didn’t actually start learning until Buddy Collete accepted him
into his swing band as the bass player
 Couldn’t read music quickly enough to join the local youth
orchestra
 Impacted his early musical career, leaving him feeling excluded from
the classical music world
 He eventually picked up double bass in high school
 Studied with Herman Reinshagen (principal bassist in NY
Philharmonic at the time)
 Studied compositional techniques with Lloyd Reese
 Began composing in his teen years
 Quite advanced for his age, incorporating elements of classical
music
Career Boom
 Career really took off in the 40s and 50s
 Played with Barney Bigard
 Toured with Louis Armstrong
 Recorded in LA with Russel Jaquet’s band and in Hollywood with
Howard McGhee’s band
 Even played in Ellington’s band for a while in 1953 as a sub
 Was one of the few musicians personally fired by Ellington, after an on
stage fight with Juan Tizol
Mingus’ Temper
 Mingus had quite the temper on him
 He was a big guy, therefore pretty scary
 Anger was mostly directed at the audience or band members
 Jimmy Knepper incident
 They were working together, Mingus lost it and clocked him in the jaw;
knocked out one of Knepper’s crowned teeth, completely ruined his
embrochure (took out the top octave of his register. Mingus was charged
with Assault
 Eric Dolphy Incident
 During a jam session, Mingus punched him in the forehead after blowing
a sour note; left a giant lump. Next jam session, Dolphy played so well,
Mingus kissed him on the lips afterwards
More on his Career
 Co-founded Debut Records with Max Roach in ‘52
 Desire to document unrecorded young musicians, hence the
name
 Based in NYC, like many big names at the time
 Also worked with an ensemble of 8-10 rotating members
 Known as the Jazz Workshop (dubbed as Sweatshop by its
participants) or his “university” for jazz
 He trained his musicians to be able to explore and develop their
perceptions on the spot
 Pepper Adams, Booker Ervin, Jimmy Knepper
The 50s
 His most productive period
 Around 30 records in 10 years
 1956, having already put out around 10 albums as a
bandleader, was his breakthrough year
 Pithecanthropus Erectus’ release – arguably his first major work
as a bandleader and composer
 Like Ellington, he wrote with specific musicians in mind
 The Clown released in 1957
 Recorded Mingus Ah Um in 1959
 Legendary record, even among Kind of Blue (Davis) and Time
Out (Brubeck)
 Recorded Blues and Roots in 1959
 “I was born swinging and clapped my hands in church as a little
boy, but I’ve grown up and I like to do things other than just
swing. But blues can do more than just swing”
Some more works
 Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus – 1961
 More experimental
 The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady – 1961
 Mingus Plays Piano – 1963
 Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus – 1963
 Changes One – 1975
 Changes Two – 1975
The Inevitable End
 Musical career slowed down in the late 60s
 By mid-70s, he had been suffering from ALS
 Lost most of his bass technique and couldn’t play anymore, but
continued composing
 Died at age 56
Legacy Left Behind
 Epitaph
 Discovered after his death
 4235 measures, two hours long
 Premiered in ‘89 by a 30-piece band
 Mingus Orchestra, Mingus Dynasty, and the Mingus Big Band
 All managed by Jazz Workshop Inc. and run by his widow, Sue
Graham Mingus
 The Mingus Big Band regularly gigs every Monday night at the Jazz
Standard in NYC, and often tours the rest of the US and Europe