Composer Spotlight : Charles Mingus
For this week’s Composer Spotlight, we’ll be giving you a short overview on arguably one of the most important American musicians from the 20th century- Charles Mingus.
Raised in California, Mingus’ earliest introduction to music came from the church. After formally studying double bass, Charles gained a reputation as a bass prodigy. Following this, he began touring with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory and Lionel Hampton.
The 50’s saw a 30 year old Mingus playing and recording with heavyweights- Miles Davis, Bud Powell and Duke Ellington, and his reputation of a leading musician was firmly cemented. A forward thinking Mingus co-founded Debut Records with Max Roach in 1952 to protect the rights of his growing repertoire. He also founded the “Jazz Workshop’ a group which cultivated new talent and enabled young composers to have their works performed in concert and recorded.
Throughout his time, Charles recorded over a hundred albums and wrote over three hundred scores. One of his most well-known albums ‘Mingus Ah Um’ was recorded in 1959, which included classic Mingus compositions such as ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’. Also in that year, he recorded Blues & Roots which was released in 1960. In his liner notes Mingus wrote, ‘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’
In 1977 Charles was diagnosed with a rare nerve disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) which unfortunately left him unable to write music on paper or compose at the piano. His last ever works were sung into a tape recorder. At the time of his death, Charles Mingus was working with Joni Mitchell on an album which included lyrics and vocals by Joni to Mingus’ compositions. The album was his final musical project, and the album, named after him was dedicated to him.
Until his death at 56 years old [1979] Mingus remained at the forefront of American music, and his legacy lived on with both New York City and Washington DC honoured him with a Charles Mingus Day
