12 Years of Mingus Mondays // Jazz Standard closes due to COVID-19 Pandemic
“The protean composer and bassist Mingus forged an enduring body of work that includes ballads luscious enough to set the mood for a candlelight dinner, stinging political statements, and hard-driving cookers to shake the rafters. With an all-star cast of players mining this diverse and uncompromising repertoire, the Mingus Big Band has held sway at this club on Monday nights for years…”
As Jazz Standard closes its doors on 27th Street in New York, we give thanks for the 500+ Monday nights (and a few weekends and holidays) in the basement bar below Blue Smoke, celebrating the music of Charles Mingus.
In 2008, Mingus Mondays began with a fortuitous partnership between Sue Mingus and Seth Abramson, and grew to be a NYC institution and heartfelt community.
Mingus Big Band, Mingus Orchestra, and Mingus Dynasty ensembles performed weekly for nearly twelve years, presenting Mingus’s extensive catalog in his spirit of jazz workshop. As Sue presided from her corner table many amazing musicians lent their voices to the Mingus legacy at Jazz Standard on 27th Street -- no two Monday nights the same.
In 2010, “Mingus Big Band: Live at Jazz Standard” was released; the following year it was recognized with a Grammy award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.
In 2014, “Noonlight” premiered at Jazz Standard, a piece newly discovered in the archives and given title and lyrics by Sue.
The red-velvet stage hosted twelve annual Mingus Festivals where aspiring students sat-in with professionals, and young musicians played Charles Mingus’s lion-head bass.
The house packed with wonderful audiences from around the globe; crowd and chaos flowed seamlessly as conducted by the consummate professionals of 27th Street.
Management, staff, and sound engineers have been warm and supportive partners through each night’s experience, cultivating a fertile air for creativity and hugely contributing to many unforgettable evenings (as the joke goes, “We fooled ‘em again!”).
Through the decade, myriad audience members may have drawn chart numbers from a pork pie hat, seen the Mingus Supernova Flag, or regaled us with Mingus stories over the gift table. Remembering birthday parties with historic scores and photos and two bands in one night, nowhere else could you pick the minds of arrangers while sipping a “Black Saint and The Sinner Lady”.
Others may recall the Mingus Monday Questionnaire where, in exchange for a button, listeners shared comments at the end of each evening:
"Sublime & magnificent. A living museum to the greatest jazz composer." - From Moscow, Russia
“The whole experience was great -- If I lived in Manhattan I'd be here every week." - From Port Washington, WI
"Tremendous -- made me forget I had a cold!" - From Cambridge, UK
With gratitude and appreciation for all who celebrated Mingus Music at Jazz Standard on 27th Street. See you again, soon! #MingusMondays #MingusLives
