Please join us for special series at Chelsea Table & Stage to explore the legendary works of the great American composer Charles Mingus and celebrate his centennial year. 100 YEARS OF MINGUS! .

Two nights of Mingus Dynasty in August and two nights of Mingus Orchestra in September. Set at 7pm

THURS AUG 11:

TRUMPET Alex Norris
ALTO SAX Sarah Hanahan
TENOR SAX Craig Handy
TROMBONE Ku-umba Frank Lacy
PIANO David Kikoski
BASS Boris Kozlov
DRUMS Adam Cruz

ABOUT THE SERIES

Mingus Dynasty (8/11 and 8/25)
THE NIMBLE AND EXPERT 7-PIECE MINGUS DYNASTY was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus’ death 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. Today, four decades later, the rich legacy of Mingus music ignites the bandstand while new generations of musicians add their individual voices and continue to celebrate and explore this rich and varied musical legacy.

The Charles Mingus Orchestra (9/16 and 9/23)
Assembled in 1999 by Sue Mingus, 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 unusual instrumentation including bassoon, bass clarinet, French horn, and guitar ­— instruments not heard in the Big Band, and most jazz and modern improvisational music. The other six instruments are chaired by musicians that also perform in Mingus Big Band, and include drums, bass, trombone, trumpet, alto and tenor saxophone, with additional doublings on flute, soprano and clarinet. The band was featured on the Grammy-nominated CD Tonight At Noon, performing with Elvis Costello and has toured domestically, and alternating with Mingus Mondays at Jazz Standard and Joe’s Pub.