Charles Mingus (1922-1979) was a bassist, pianist, composer and bandleader, and one of the most personal voices jazz has had. He grew up in Watts, in Los Angeles, started on trombone and cello, and found his instrument in the double bass.

In the 1940s he played with Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton; in 1952 he founded Debut Records with Max Roach, which released the Massey Hall concert of 1953 with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell and Roach. His Jazz Workshop bands of the late 1950s wrote music on the bandstand, from Pithecanthropus Erectus to Mingus Ah Um.

He wrote for small groups and for orchestras, from The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady to Epitaph, a work for thirty musicians first played after his death. His autobiography, Beneath the Underdog, came out in 1971.

This is a demo site, a tribute built to show a TJP Web site: pages, a menu, a journal and three languages. Its concert dates are the demo's own.

Formats

Photos

Charles Mingus, 1976. Tom Marcello, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Watts Towers, in the neighbourhood where he grew up. HABS, Library of Congress
Poster for the film Mingus, 1968
Max Roach, his partner at Debut Records, with Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, 1947. William P. Gottlieb
Simon Rodia's towers, the wall at the entrance. HABS, Library of Congress
52nd Street, New York, 1948. William P. Gottlieb

Links

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