The Charles Mingus Centennial Celebration 

Jazz Workshop, Inc. / Let My Children Hear Music / Mingus Big Band / Mingus Dynasty / Mingus Orchestra

At Dizzy’s Club — 10 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10019

Th 4/21 Mingus Big Band 7:30/9:30p, 70m sets

F 4/22 Mingus Big Band  7:30/9:30p, 70m sets

Sa 4/23 Mingus Dynasty  7:30/9:30p, 70m sets

Su 4/24 Mingus Orchestra  5/7:30p, 70m sets

https://2022.jazz.org/the-mingus-big-band

https://2022.jazz.org/the-mingus-dynasty

https://2022.jazz.org/the-mingus-orchestra

Celebrating one of the most important figures in twentieth century American Music! 

Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist, bandleader, and composer who’s legacy of music draws admiration from listeners across the globe. 

His compositions are among the most personal and varied in music, sweeping across the country gathering in their wake the sounds of Dixieland, bebop, Latin rhythms, swing, romantic ballads, west coast jazz, European classical forms, African folklore; all of it rich with melody, all of it steeped in the blues.

Known for his expressiveness and fire, he was also known to be guileless, sincere, and poetic. Among other things he was an outspoken champion of freedom and social justice, who believed in love, and had an eye on the underdog. 

When Mingus died at the age of 56, it was felt around the world. At that time he had already recorded over one hundred albums and written over 300 compositions, leaving one of the largest bodies of musical works in the United States, second only to Duke Ellington. His archives were acquired by the Library of Congress; a first for jazz, and for an African American composer. 

Since his death in 1979, Sue Mingus and the Mingus Bands have continued to champion Mingus Mingus in New York City and around the world through performance, education, publishing, and preservation efforts. 

The nimble and expert 7-piece Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized in 1979, collaborating with his own sidemen to honor the life and work of the bassist and composer. Because Mingus always said he was first and foremost a composer, and because he left behind over 300 compositions that deserved to be played, a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission. The first Dynasty bands were expected to include only musicians who had actually performed with Mingus -- except for the bass player of course.

Mingus Dynasty remained active throughout the following decade, and efforts to celebrate the legacy grew. Ten years later in 1989, in a project with Pulitzer Winner Gunther Schuller featuring 30 musicians, Sue produced the posthumous premiere of Mingus’s seminal work “Epitaph” – of which he said “I wrote it for my tombstone”. Following successful performances enabled by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford Foundation, it was undeniable the powerful energy of Mingus’ music in larger formats. As it’s said, Charles had always wanted a big band, but there was seldom funding for it. In 1991, under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, the Grammy award-winning Mingus Big Band was formed.

Mingus Big Band is a 14-piece artistic institution and cornerstone of jazz in New York City dedicated to the legacy of the great Charles Mingus. The powerhouse ensemble features a vanguard of some of the finest musicians alive, and many modern greats have brought their voices to the spirited communion of this hive mind. Gathering most weeks since the early 90’s, performances have become a rhythmic gathering and treasured tradition with residencies at venues like Fez under Time Cafe, Iridium, Birdland, Jazz Standard, and now in 2022, Mingus Mondays continue at The Django in the stunning Roxy Hotel. Mingus Big Band can be heard in the prestigious venues of New York City, and around the world; the ensemble tours extensively in the United States and abroad. It has eleven recordings to its credit, six of which have been nominated for Grammys.  

The Charles Mingus Orchestra began alternating performances with its older sibling, the Mingus Big Band, during tenure at Fez Under Time Cafe. Assembled in 1999, the 10-piece Mingus Orchestra plays with the intensity of Mingus Big Band, with a focus on composition and exploration of Mingus’ more diverse works. Its distinctive sound and textures emerge from an expanded repertory and more exotic instrumentation including bassoon, bass clarinet, French horn, and guitar ­— instruments not heard in the Big Band, and mostly non-traditional to jazz and modern improvisational music. The other six instruments are chaired by musicians that also perform in Mingus Big Band and Mingus Dynasty, and include drums, bass, trombone, trumpet, alto and tenor saxophone, with additional doublings on flute, soprano and clarinet.

Today, over four decades later, the rich legacy of Mingus music continues to ignite the bandstand while new generations of musicians add their voices in celebration. We reach for Mingus’ “Jazz Workshop” spirit (also the name of his publishing company), in which the stage transforms into a wildly creative space for experimenting in the moment. During the Annual Mingus Festival, students are encouraged to sit-in with the big band in the time-honored tradition of learning on the bandstand and first-hand mentorship. Coupled with Sue’s publishing and education efforts, Mingus Music – once considered challenging even for professionals – is more accessible now than it ever has been before.

Each of Mingus’s compositions have their own evolutionary tales, personalized by Charles and his storied sidemen. Mingus Legacy Bands continue to breathe through these rich compositions to bring a shared experience of connection to the sense of freedom and expression stirring in us all. The spirit of Mingus emanates like a resonant wave, gathering new musicians, scholars, and enthusiasts around the world with little sign of slowing down. 

On behalf of our community, Mingus Bands, Jazz Workshop / The Mingus Institute, and Sue Mingus, it is our honor:

We lovingly invite you to join us to celebrate 100 years of Great American Composer, Charles Mingus 

Charles Mingus Lives!