Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz musician who played the upright bass, composed music, led bands, played the piano, and wrote books. He supported a style where musicians create music together, and he is considered one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history. His career lasted about 30 years, and he worked with other famous jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Max Roach, and Eric Dolphy. Mingus’s music included advanced bebop and experimental jazz performed by small and medium-sized groups, as well as important recordings like Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) and Mingus Ah Um (1959). He also created progressive big band music, such as The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963).

Today, musicians continue to perform Mingus’s compositions, including groups like the Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra. High school students also play his music and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition. In 1993, the Library of Congress collected Mingus’s papers, including his musical scores, recordings, letters, and photographs. The Library called this collection "the most important acquisition of a jazz manuscript collection in its history."

Biography

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Charles Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona. His father, Charles Mingus Sr., was a sergeant in the U.S. Army. Mingus Jr. was largely raised in the Watts area of Los Angeles.

Mingus's ethnic background was complex. His ancestry included German American, African American, and Native American heritage. His maternal grandfather was a Chinese British subject from Hong Kong, and his maternal grandmother was an African American from the southern United States. Mingus was the great-great-great-grandson of his family's founding patriarch who, by most accounts, was a German immigrant. In Mingus's autobiography Beneath the Underdog, his mother was described as "the daughter of an English/Chinese man and a South-American woman," and his father was the son "of a black farm worker and a Swedish woman." Charles Mingus Sr. claims to have been raised by his mother and her husband as a white person until he was fourteen, when his mother revealed to her family that the child's true father was a black slave, after which he had to run away from his family and live on his own. The autobiography does not confirm whether Charles Mingus Sr. or Mingus himself believed this story was true, or whether it was merely an embellished version of the Mingus family's lineage. According to new information used to educate visitors to Mingus Mill in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, included in signs unveiled May 23, 2023, the father of Mingus Sr. was former slave Daniel Mingus, owned by the family of his mother Clarinda Mingus, a white woman. When Clarinda married a white man, Mingus Sr. was left with his white grandfather and great-grandparents. His father, who later changed his name to West, apparently did not have a relationship with Mingus Sr.

His mother allowed only church-related music in their home, but Mingus developed an early love for other music, especially that of Duke Ellington. He studied trombone, and later cello, although he was unable to follow the cello professionally because, at the time, it was nearly impossible for a black musician to make a career of classical music, and the cello was not accepted as a jazz instrument. Despite this, Mingus was still attached to the cello; as he studied bass with Red Callender in the late 1930s, Callender even commented that the cello was still Mingus's main instrument. In Beneath the Underdog, Mingus states that he did not actually start learning bass until Buddy Collette accepted him into his swing band under the stipulation that he be the band's bass player.

Due to a poor education, the young Mingus could not read musical notation quickly enough to join the local youth orchestra. This had a serious impact on his early musical experiences, leaving him feeling ostracized from the classical music world. These early experiences, in addition to his lifelong confrontations with racism, were reflected in his music, which often focused on themes of racism, discrimination and (in)justice.

Much of the cello technique Mingus learned was applicable to double bass when he took up the instrument in high school. He studied for five years with Herman Reinshagen, principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic, and compositional techniques with Lloyd Reese. Throughout much of his career, he played a bass made in 1927 by the German maker Ernst Heinrich Roth.

Mingus was already writing relatively advanced musical pieces in his teenage years; many are similar to Third Stream in that they incorporate elements of classical music. A number of pieces were recorded in 1960 with conductor Gunther Schuller, and released as Pre-Bird, referring to Charlie "Bird" Parker; Mingus was one of many musicians whose perspectives on music were altered by Parker into "pre- and post-Bird" eras.

Mingus gained a reputation as a bass prodigy. His first major professional job was playing with former Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard. He toured with Louis Armstrong in 1943, and by early 1945 was recording in Los Angeles in a band led by Russell Jacquet, which also included Teddy Edwards, Maurice James Simon, Wild Bill Davis, and Chico Hamilton, and in May that year, in Hollywood, again with Edwards, in a band led by Howard McGhee.

He then played with Lionel Hampton's band in the late 1940s; Hampton performed and recorded several Mingus pieces. A popular trio of Mingus, Red Norvo, and Tal Farlow in 1950 and 1951 received considerable acclaim, but Mingus's race caused problems with some club owners and he left the group. Mingus was briefly a member of Ellington's band in 1953, as a substitute for bassist Wendell Marshall; however, Mingus's notorious temper led to his being one of the few musicians personally fired by Ellington (Bubber Miley and drummer Bobby Durham are among the others) after a backstage fight between Mingus and Juan Tizol.

Also in the early 1950s, before attaining commercial recognition as a bandleader, Mingus played gigs with Charlie Parker, whose compositions and improvisations greatly inspired and influenced him. Mingus considered Parker the greatest genius and innovator in jazz history, but he had a love-hate relationship with Parker's legacy. Mingus blamed the Parker mythology for a derivative crop of pretenders to Parker's throne. He was also conflicted and sometimes disgusted by Parker's self-destructive habits and the romanticized lure of drug addiction they offered to other jazz musicians. In response to the many sax players who imitated Parker, Mingus titled a song "If Charlie Parker Were a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats" (released on Mingus Dynasty as "Gunslinging Bird").

Mingus married four times. His wives were Jeanne Gross, Lucille (Celia) Germanis, Judy Starkey, and Susan Graham Ungaro.

In 1952, Mingus co-founded Debut Records with Max Roach so he could conduct his recording career as he saw fit. The name originated from his desire to document unrecorded young musicians. Despite this, the best-known recording the company issued was of the most prominent figures in bebop. On May 15, 1953, Mingus joined Dizzy Gillespie, Parker, Bud Powell, and Roach for a concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, which is the last recorded documentation of Gillespie and Parker playing together. After the event, Mingus chose to overdub his barely audible bass part back in New York; the original version was issued later. The two 10" albums of the Massey Hall concert (one featured the trio of Powell, Mingus and Roach) were among Debut Records' earliest releases. Mingus may have objected to the way the major record companies treated musicians, but Gillespie once commented that he did not receive any royalties "for years and years" for his Massey Hall appearance. The records, however, are often regarded as among the finest live jazz recordings.

One story has it that Mingus was involved in a notorious incident while playing a 1955 club date billed as a "reunion" with Parker, Powell, and Roach. Powell, who suffered from alcoholism and mental illness (possibly exacerbated by a severe police beating and electroshock treatments), had to be helped from the stage, unable to play or speak coherently. As Powell's incapacitation became apparent, Parker stood in one spot at a microphone, chanting "Bud Powell … Bud Powell …" as if beseeching Powell's return. Allegedly, Parker continued this incantation for several minutes after Powell's departure, to his own amusement and Mingus's exasperation. Mingus took another microphone and announced to the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please don't associate me with any of this. This is not jazz. These are sick people." This was Parker's last public performance; about a week later he died after years of substance abuse.

Mingus often worked with a mid-sized ensemble (around 8–10 members) of rotating musicians known as the Jazz Workshop. Mingus broke new ground, constantly demanding that his musicians be able to explore and develop their perceptions on the spot. Those who

Musical style

His music kept the energetic and emotional style of hard bop, influenced strongly by African American gospel music and blues. It also sometimes included elements of third stream, free jazz, and classical music. He once named Duke Ellington and church as his main influences.

Mingus supported collective improvisation, similar to traditional New Orleans jazz parades. He paid close attention to how each musician worked with the rest of the group. When forming his bands, he considered both the skills and personalities of the musicians. Many musicians who played in his bands later had successful careers. He recruited talented and lesser-known musicians to create unusual group setups. As a performer, Mingus was known for his innovative techniques on the double bass and was considered one of the best players of the instrument.

Because of his skill in writing music for medium-sized groups and his focus on each musician's strengths, Mingus is often seen as Duke Ellington's successor. He admired Duke Ellington and worked with him on the album Money Jungle. Dizzy Gillespie once said Mingus reminded him of a young Duke Ellington, noting their similar ability to organize music.

Personality

Charlie Mingus was known for being very angry, which gave him the nickname "the Angry Man of Jazz." He refused to change his music style, which caused him to have many angry outbursts on stage. These outbursts were directed at his band members and the audience. In 1965, during a performance, he told half of his band to go backstage to practice. He was also angry at noisy audiences. Mingus once said to one person, "Isaac Stern doesn't have to put up with this shit," and on another occasion, he told his band to read books instead of playing music. In the 1960s, during a concert at the Five Spot Café in New York City, Mingus reportedly broke a $20,000 bass after people in the audience yelled at him.

Guitarist and singer Jackie Paris saw Mingus's anger firsthand. Paris remembered his time in the Jazz Workshop: "He made everyone leave the stage except [drummer] Paul Motian and me. The three of us played blues for about an hour and a half before he called the others back."

On October 12, 1962, Mingus punched Jimmy Knepper in the mouth while they were working together at Mingus's apartment on a score for a concert at New York's Town Hall. This caused Knepper to stop working with Mingus. The punch broke off a crowned tooth and its root. Knepper said this injury damaged his ability to play the trombone, making it impossible for him to reach the highest notes. This event ended their working relationship temporarily, and Knepper could not perform at the concert. Mingus was charged with assault and received a suspended sentence in January 1963. Knepper later worked with Mingus again in 1977 and played with the Mingus Dynasty, a group formed after Mingus's death in 1979.

In addition to being angry, Mingus often had clinical depression. He experienced short periods of high creativity mixed with long times when he produced little music, such as the five years after the death of musician Eric Dolphy.

In 1966, Mingus was evicted from his apartment at 5 Great Jones Street in New York City because he did not pay rent. This event was shown in the 1968 documentary film Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968, directed by Thomas Reichman. The film also includes scenes of Mingus performing in clubs, playing music in his apartment, firing a .410 bore shotgun indoors, composing at the piano, caring for his young daughter Carolyn, and talking about love, art, politics, and a music school he wanted to create.

Legacy

Charles Mingus's music is currently performed and reinterpreted by the Mingus Big Band. This group began playing every Monday at Jazz Standard in New York City in October 2008 and often tours the United States and Europe. The Mingus Big Band, Mingus Orchestra, and Mingus Dynasty band are managed by Jazz Workshop, Inc. and are run by Mingus's widow, Sue Graham Mingus.

Elvis Costello has written lyrics for some of Mingus's pieces. He once sang lyrics for a piece called "Invisible Lady," supported by the Mingus Big Band on an album titled Tonight at Noon: Three of Four Shades of Love.

Epitaph is considered one of Charles Mingus's most important works. The piece is 4,235 measures long, takes about two hours to perform, and is one of the longest jazz compositions ever written. It was discovered completely by a music expert named Andrew Homzy after Mingus's death. With help from a grant from the Ford Foundation, the score and parts for the piece were copied. The piece was first performed by a 30-piece orchestra, led by Gunther Schuller. This concert was organized by Sue Graham Mingus at Alice Tully Hall on June 3, 1989, 10 years after Mingus's death. It was performed again in 2007. A recording of the performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall is available on NPR. Hal Leonard published the full score in 2008.

Mingus wrote a long, detailed book titled Beneath the Underdog: His World as Composed by Mingus during the 1960s. It was published in 1971. The book uses a writing style called "stream of consciousness," which covers many parts of his life that were not previously discussed. In addition to his musical achievements, Mingus wrote about his personal experiences, including his claim to have had more than 31 romantic relationships in his life, including 26 with prostitutes in one instance. This does not include his five marriages, two of which he said he had at the same time. He also said he briefly worked as a pimp, though this has never been proven.

Mingus's autobiography also provides insight into his thoughts and feelings about race and society. It includes stories about being abused by his father as a child, being bullied, being removed from a white musician's union, and facing challenges while married to white women.

The work of Charles Mingus has been studied in schools and universities. Ashon Crawley, an American scholar and artist, writes in his book Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility that Mingus's music shows how music can connect the sacred and the everyday. He discusses a song called "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting," which Mingus wrote after attending a Holiness Pentecostal church in Los Angeles. Crawley says Mingus wanted to express how the music and spiritual practices at the church were deeply connected.

Gunther Schuller has said that Mingus should be considered one of the most important American composers, whether in jazz or other genres. In 1988, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts helped catalog Mingus's compositions, which were then donated to the Music Division of the New York Public Library for public use. In 1993, the Library of Congress acquired Mingus's collected papers, including scores, recordings, letters, and photos. They called this one of the most important jazz-related collections in their history.

Charles Mingus wrote many compositions, but his works have not been recorded as often as those of other jazz composers. The only tribute albums recorded during his lifetime were Pepper Adams Plays the Compositions of Charlie Mingus by baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams in 1963 and Mingus by Joni Mitchell in 1979. His elegy for Lester Young, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (from Mingus Ah Um), has been recorded most often. It has been performed by both jazz and non-jazz musicians, including Jeff Beck, Andy Summers, Eugene Chadbourne, and Bert Jansch and John Renbourn with and without Pentangle. Joni Mitchell also wrote lyrics for a version of the song.

Elvis Costello recorded "Hora Decubitus" (from Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus) on his album My Flame Burns Blue (2006). "Better Git It in Your Soul" was covered by Davey Graham on his album Folk, Blues, and Beyond. Trumpeter Ron Miles performed a version of "Pithecanthropus Erectus" on his CD Witness. The New York Ska Jazz Ensemble covered "Haitian Fight Song," as did the British folk rock group Pentangle and others. Hal Willner's 1992 tribute album Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus (Columbia Records) includes unique versions of Mingus's works by musicians like Chuck D, Keith Richards, Henry Rollins, and Dr. John. The Italian band Quintorigo recorded an entire album of Mingus's music, titled Play Mingus.

Gunther Schuller's version of Epitaph, which was first performed at Lincoln Center in 1989, was later released on Columbia/Sony Records.

One of the most detailed tributes to Mingus took place on September 29, 1969, at a festival in his honor. Duke Ellington performed The Clown, with Ellington reading a narration by Jean Shepherd. It was once believed that no recording of this performance existed, but one was found and shared by Dry River Jazz host Trevor Hodgkins on July 11, 2013, for NPR station KRWG-FM. It was later played again on July 13, 2013, and July 26, 2014. Mingus's elegy for Duke Ellington, "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love," was recorded by Kevin Mahogany on Double Rainbow (1993) and Anita Wardell on Why Do You Cry? (1995).

Awards and honors

• 1971: Received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition. Inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Awarded the Slee Chair of Music at the University of New York Buffalo.
• 1988: The National Endowment for the Arts gave money to support a nonprofit called "Let My Children Hear Music," which collected all of Mingus's musical works. These works were recorded on microfilm and given to the Music Division of the New York Public Library, where they are still available for study.
• 1993: The Library of Congress acquired Mingus's collected papers, including scores, sound recordings, letters, and photographs. This was described as the most important collection of jazz-related materials in the Library's history.
• 1995: The United States Postal Service released a stamp in his honor.
• 1997: Awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award after his death.
• 1999: The album Mingus Dynasty (1959) was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
• 2005: Inducted into the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
• 2013: The album Mingus Ah Um (1959) was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Filmography

• In 1959, Mingus helped create most of the music for John Cassavetes's New York City film Shadows.
• In 1961, Mingus played the bass and acted in the British film All Night Long.
• In 1968, Thomas Reichman directed the documentary Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968.
• In 1991, Ray Davies produced a documentary called Weird Nightmare. It includes footage of Mingus and interviews with artists who made Hal Willner's tribute album of the same name, such as Elvis Costello, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, and Vernon Reid.
• In 1998, a 78-minute documentary film titled Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog about Charles Mingus was directed by Don McGlynn.