On October 13, 1950, Charles Mingus was in Chicago, recording with the Red Norvo Trio for Discovery Records (later repackaged by Savoy). Hot off the heels of his tenure as a bassist and arranger for Lionel Hampton, Mingus’ association with the California-based trio lasted only a year or so before he relocated to New York. Once in his new home, Mingus quickly made a name for himself as a creative and highly proficient bassist, composer, and bandleader thanks in part to the solid reputation he had established as an integral part of the breakout success and wide appeal of the Red Norvo Trio.

Of Mingus’ role in the ensemble, bandmate Tal Farlow later recalled, “I found it real easy to play with Mingus. He gave us a fantastic foundation. I could play on top of the time or play it loose, any way I wanted. He freed me. There was no need to think of the time. He made it possible for me to be more creative.”
“Mingus got such a distinct sound. Each note would ‘ting’ with great clarity, no matter what the tempo. Unlike so many other bass players, he could separate one note from the other, no matter how fast we played, and he was so relaxed. I was always amazed, just watching his right hand. He played as if it were no effort at all, as if the bass were a guitar.”
“Every afternoon, we went over to Red’s and rehearsed. We all took an interest and contributed little things we could do. Actually, a lot of the tunes we did were built around things that only Mingus could play. He had a way of bouncing the bow on the bass - I believe he does it on ‘Time and Tide.’ He had an instinct for adding little comments where they naturally belonged. And as Red has said he helped give the group a completeness, even without drums and piano.”
“There were lines into the street most every night. Movie and TV types, jazz fans, music business personalities, all kinds of people came in. I guess we had the right prescription.”

The flamenco-inspired bow-bouncing technique referenced by Farlow later came to be something of a favorite device of Mingus’, used in such compositions as “Ysabel’s Table Dance” and “The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady.”

Listen to the trio performing Denzil Best’s composition “Move”