Today would have been Charles Mingus’ 87th birthday, which seems worth mentioning if for no other reason but to acknowlege Idolator’s one reader from Nogales, Arizona (Mingus’ birthplace). Oh, and Mingus was probably one of the true geniuses in jazz’s history.
By most accounts, Mingus was a difficult guy to deal with on occasion, punching fellow performers, shooting guns in his New York apartment, threatening audience members, but I don’t know if any of jazz’s big names had the ability to take odd collections of musicians and instruments and make something amazing from it. Sure, Miles Davis sounded great when he pulled the best musicians around for his albums, but there are Mingus albums with rosters that seem assembled from whoever happened to be hanging around the studio that afternoon. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything embeddable from my favorite Mingus album The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (complete with liner notes by Mingus’ psychotherapist), but some Mingus is better than none.
“Better Git In Your Soul”:
I can understand that jazz as a genre isn’t for everyone, but if you pretend to like jazz at all, sit back and enjoy Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan and Mingus from Mingus’ post Black Saint… combo, recorded in Oslo, of all places.
And in a moment that makes me thank God for YouTube, here’s ten minutes of Mingus hanging out with his daughter and playing whatever instruments were sitting around his house.
Charles Mingus [official site]
“recorded in Oslo, of all places.”
Oi, why you dissing my home town? Monk also played in that hall in 1966 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmhP1RgbrrY).
(You need to re-check those embeddings, btw).
The embed repairs are on the way. This technical upgrade is messing with my limited blogging skills.
I’m sure Oslo is a great place, just not necessarily associated immediately with jazz history, I guess (although I’m aware that Europe as a continent essentially kept jazz afloat through financial support, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised).
No sweat. I mainly wanted to point out the embedding, but thought I’d have a little dig while I was at it. Should have added a smiley or something, but I’m too old for that kind of thing.
WKCR are broadcasting Mingus all day, btw.
By most accounts, Mingus was a difficult guy to deal with on occasion, punching fellow performers, shooting guns in his New York apartment, threatening audience members
And that sort of behavior never ends badly, when a revered artist’s quirks and eccentricities are tolerated…
This year is also the 30th anniversary of his death.
Mingus was definitely one of the greats. I can’t think of anyone else who could incorporate everything from Ellington to Cecil Taylor into his music and have it make sense.
By the way, one of Mingus’ classic, Mingus Ah Um, is being given away at Jazzbo Notes. Here is the link: http://jazzbonotes.com/category/contests/