“I Am Three” Nominated for Grammy Award Mon, Dec. 12 2005 “I Am Three” has been nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.

“I Am Three” was released in June on the SueMingusMusic/Sunnyside label in the U.S. and through Universal Music Jazz France in September. It is the first of the eight repertoire recordings to feature all three ensembles currently performing live: the Mingus Big Band, the Mingus Orchestra, and the Mingus Dynasty. “I Am Three” will be competing with label-mate Dave Holland Big Band, the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, the Bill Holman Band, and the Chris Walden Big Band. The 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m.

Jazz Workshop to Launch “Simply Mingus” Educational Series

Tue, Nov. 8 2005 New York, NY: Jazz Workshop, Inc. will launch “Simply Mingus,” a new educational series that includes special arrangements for high school and college students. The new series will serve as a companion piece to the existing arrangements currently available from the Mingus Big Band peforming books. Plans include upcoming competitions, workshops, and music clinics conducted by Mingus educators, arrangers and performers. The first charts will include “Boogie Stop Shuffle,” “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” and “Fables of Faubus.” The new arrangements are by Andrew Homzy and will be published by Hal Leonard. They will presented for the first time at the IAJE conference in January 2006. For more information about this series, please visit the “Jazz Education” section of our website, or contact Jazz Workshop at 212-736-4749.

Mingus Bands, Experts To Appear at IAJE Conference

Tue, Nov. 8 2005 New York, NY: The three working Mingus Bands – Mingus Big Band, Mingus Orchestra, and Mingus Dynasty – will perform at the 33rd annual International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) conference on Friday, January 13th, 2006 in the Hilton Ballroom. The concert is scheduled for 11:00 p.m. and will follow an earlier panel discussion on the influence and importance of Charles Mingus as composer & force in the world of jazz. Panel members include composer/conductor Gunther Schuller; journalist/educator Nat Hentoff; educator/musicologist Andrew Homzy; Sue Mingus and musicians from the bands. For more information about attending the conference, please visit the IAJE website at www.iaje.org.

Two New Mingus Recordings Available: Thu, Nov. 3 2005 “Don’t Be Afraid…LCJO and Charles Mingus” joins the “I Am Three” cd featuring the three Mingus repertory bands.
New York, NY: For its second project taking on the masterpieces of jazz composition (the first being John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme), the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra selected the music of Charles Mingus. Don’t Be Afraid… The Music of Charles Mingus (Palmetto Records, 2005) takes its title from “Don’t Be Afraid, the Clown’s Afraid Too,” and features six Mingus compositions, including extended works “Black Saint and the Sinner Lady,” “Meditations on Integration,” and “Los Mariachis.” LCJO trombonist and part-time Mingus Big Band member Ron Westray arranged the music for the recording. Other musicians who have performed with the MBB on this recording include trumpter Ryan Kisor and trombonist Andre Hayward.
Pick up a copy of this release in addition to the MBB/Orchestra/Dynasty’s “I Am Three,” released in June 2005 on Sunnyside.

New Years Eve with Mingus Dynasty at “Per Se”! Tue, Nov. 1 2005 New York, NY: On New Year’s Eve The Mingus Dynasty will perform three sets at one of New York’s finest restaurants, “Per Se”, in the Time Warner Building overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park. Vocalist Renee Manning will join the Dynasty on this exclusive bill which features Randy Brecker on trumpet and Saturday Night Live band’s Alex Foster on saxophone. Per Se was in the news recently as the recipient of one of the rare three-star ratings from the French restaurant guide, Michelin.
For information or reservations, please call 212-823-9335.

SueMingus Music Plans Second Release

Thu, Oct. 27 2005 New York, NY: SueMingusMusic/Universal Jazz France is planning to reissue for the first time on CD Charles Mingus’s “Music Written For Monterey, Not Played, Performed At UCLA 1965.” Originally issued as a limited edition on the Charles Mingus Enterprises label, the scheduled release date is April, 2006, and will feature orginal Mingus artwork, photographs, and new liner notes.

Mingus Big Band Rings in New Year in Tokyo

Thu, Oct. 6 2005 Tokyo, Japan: The Mingus Big Band will perform at the premier jazz venue in Toyko, the Blue Note, from December 26 through 31st, including New Year’s Eve. For information or reservations, call 03-5485-0088 or visit the Blue Note website at www.bluenote.net . The Blue Note Toyko is celebrating its 17th Anniversary!

Mingus Inducted into Jazz Hall of Fame

Fri, Sep. 9 2005 New York, NY: Jazz at Lincoln Center inducted Charles Mingus into the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame in a private ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. This was the second year of the ceremonies. Sue Mingus attended the event with Sunnyside Records president, Francois Zalacain. Also inducted were Count Basie, Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Johnny Hodes, Jo Jones, King Oliver, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, and Fats Waller. A 58-person international voting panel, which includes musicians, scholars and educators from 17 countries, was charged with nominating and selecting these definitive jazz artists. Each year, criteria for nomination into the hall include excellence and the significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of jazz. The Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame was named by Jazz at Lincoln Center Board member Ahmet Ertegun and his wife, Mica, in honor of his late brother and Atlantic Records partner, Nesuhi Ertegun. Charles Mingus recorded many of his most well-known compositions, including “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting,” “Haitian Fight Song,” and “Moanin” when Nesuhi headed Atlantic’s jazz department. Albums from this period, which have been reissued on Rhino, include Blues and Roots, Oh Yeah, and The Clown.

Construction on the Charles Mingus Arts Center in Watts to Begin

Fri, Jul. 15 2005 Los Angeles, CA: The Los Angeles Board of Public Works finally awarded a contract to start construction on the Charles Mingus/Watts Junior Arts Center. The initial ceremony was held in February 2003 by the Cultural Affairs Department of the City of Los Angeles. The $2.7 million project calls for the construction of the center at 10624 Graham Avenue in the Watts community. When completed, the two-story facility will feature classrooms, a show gallery and administrative offices. Construction is expected to take approximately a year and half to complete. The Junior Arts Center will provide educational opportunities and present exhibitions on a regular basis to showcase the creative talents of young people in the community. Click here to read an excerpt Mingus’s autobiography, Beneath the Underdog, about his connection to the Watts Towers, and legendary artist Simon Rodia.