Mingus100

Antoine Chambert-Loir

April-August 2022

Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, hundred years ago on this day, and
he brought to this earth his incredible music, as a bass player, a composer and a
band leader, and he also brought an inextinguible desire for justice.
For the forthcoming weeks, I invite you to listen together to the music he played
and the one he composed, either played by him, or revisited by other musicians.

Figure 1: Charles Mingus

1. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Let’s start by putting the bar quite high. A quiet ballad, full of hope and sorrow.
“Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”, Mingus Ah Um, 1959
This composition is from the recording, Mingus Ah Um, one of the many fabulous
recordings that was made in 1959. With a beautiful abstract cover painted by S
Neil Fujita.

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Figure 2: Mingus Ah Um, 1959. Disc cover

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In this recording, Charles Mingus is on bass, Booker Ervin and John Handy on
saxophones, Willie Dennis and Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Horace Parlan on
piano, and Dannie Richmond on drums.
This song was composed by Mingus as a homage to saxophonist Lester Young
(1909–1959), nicknamed Pres (President), who was famous for (playing beautiful
music, in particular with Billie Holiday) and wearing this kind of hat, and who
had died a few months before the recording.
2. Perdido
We continue this exploration of Mingus’s music with a live 1953 (May 15th)
recording at Massey Hall. This is a great bop quartet, with Charlie Parker on
saxophone, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Max Roach on drums, Bud Powell on
piano, and Charles Mingus on bass.
“Perdido”, The Quintet — Jazz at Massey Hall, 1953
There is some irony here, because an altercation between Tizol and Mingus,
while the two were playing in Ellington’s band. Clearly both of them lost their
temper easily, Mingus says he played Tizol’s arrangement one octave higher for
that it would sound better, Tizol objected, according to Mingus, racist insults
followed, and the legend says that soon the two of them were fighting, Tizol with
a knife, Mingus with the fire axe. This is how, a few weeks after he’d been hired
by his dream band leader, Mingus was fired by Ellington. You can read more of
this story on this Medium article by Krin Gabbard. Mingus recalls his version
in his autobiography Beneath the Underdog.
3. Nostalgia in Times Square
Today, we’ll listen to one of the most famous compositions of Charles Mingus,
an almost-a-blues-but-not-quite tune : Nostalgia in Times Square.
This tune has been composed in 1958 and was intended for John Cassavetes’s
movie Shadows, for which Mingus improvised music on the improvised acting of
the actors. However, that tune was finally removed from the 1959 reworking of
the film.
There are many versions of Nostalgia in Times Square, and this live 2008 one
explores the bluesy moods of the score. Patricia Barber is on piano, Neal Alger
on guitar, Michael Arnopol on bass and Eric Montzka on drums.
(All four play great choruses.)
“Nostalgia in Times Square”, Patricia Barber, Live recording, 2008
The tune has 12 bars, like all blues, and it starts with 4 bars in F7. But a
standard blues would then pass to Bb-7, not to Ab-7, which is why this is
not-quite-a-blues. (I owe these explanations to Ron Drotos’s Jazz Pianist’s
Ultimate guide to the Real Book.)
4. Moanin’

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Figure 3: Lester Young, wearing his signature pork pie hat

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Figure 4: Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, possibly Juan Tizol. . .

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Figure 5: Shadows, John Cassavetes, 1959

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Figure 6: “Nostalgia in Times Square”, Charles Mingus. Score

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A tune with a highly recognizable barytone sax part, originally played by Pepper
Adams in the 1959 recording Blues & Roots.
It should not be confused with another tune with the same title that Bobby
Timmons had composed for Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. Although
both share a common will of returning to the roots of blues and soul.
The version I propose you to listen to is a 2002 take by the Mingus Big Band, a
group of star musicians assembled by Sue Mingus after Charles’s death.
“Moanin’” Mingus Big Band, 2002
(Ronnie Cuber is on barytone saxophone.)
Some people find it too fast, I enjoy its energy and mood.
5. Haitian Fight Song
From his 1957 recording, The Clown, this tune has a form which is typical of
Mingus’s compositions, especially the bass introduction, several movements with
varied tempos and harmonies, a first one on reeds, wonderful riffs. And blues
everywhere.
“Haiti Fight Song”, The Clown, 1957
Jimmy Knepper is on trombone, Curtis Porter on alto sax, Wade Legge on piano,
Charles Mingus on bass (of course), and Dannie Richmond on drums.
Mingus would record it once again a few years later, at a faster tempo, under the
name “II . B. S.”, an enigmatic title that probably means (says Nat Henthoff),
“To Bessie Smith”.
“I was always doing revolutionary things, things that would alert people, so they
would stop being so subservient.” — Charles Mingus
6. Move
The first ten years of his career as a musician, Charles Mingus had recorded
many discs as a sideman, under the lead of Illinois Jacquet, Red Norvo, Dinah
Washington, Miles Davis, Paul Bley, Charlie Parker and the likes.
Today’s tune is an acknowledgment of Mingus’s role as a bass player, at the
service of somebody elses’s music. Recorded in 1951 by Red Norvo’s trio (with
Norvo on vibes, Tal Farlow on guitar, and Mingus on bass), a very fast bebop
tune.
“Move”, Red Norvo Trio, with Tal Farlow and Charlie Mingus, 1951
This goes very fast, roughly 240 bpm ! and Mingus essentially plays all quarter
notes, except that on the theme, you will notice he plays exactly the melody’s
rhythm.

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Figure 7: Charles Mingus, with bass, cigar and skyscraper

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Figure 8: The Red Norvo Trio, featuring Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus. Disc
cover

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This tune is now attributed to the drummer Denzil Best, but it had been recorded
in 1949 by Miles Davis in an arrangement by John Lewis, that would be published
in 1957 — Birth of the Cool.

Figure 9: Drummer Denzil Best

7. Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love

The music of Charles Mingus was generally written for medium scale ensembles
with a few reeds that allow it to develop a large palette of colors and atmospheres,
often within the same piece. It is as if Charles Mingus, whatever he composed,
had in mind the sound of Duke Ellington’s orchestra. Do you recall that this
band was so dear to his heart, but how he had been fired from it after just a few
weeks?

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Today’s theme, Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love, is a homage to this orchestra.
It was composed in 1974, the year of Duke’s death.
This version is interpreted by a singular and exceptional trio, Paul Motian on
drums, Bill Frisell on electric guitar and Joe Lovano on saxophone. This is from
their 1998 recording Sound of Love.
“Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love”, Paul Motian Trio, Sound of Love, 1998
8. Ysabel’s Table Dance
Latin America’s musical styles have also been a source of inspiration for Charles
Mingus, especially for his 1957 recording Tijuana Moods inspired by a trip to
Tijuana. For this recording, he hired the castanets player Ysabel Morel. (For a
1976 live version, Morel helped Mingus finding mariachi dancers.) It is probably
to her that this tune was dedicated.
“Ysabel’s Table Dance”, Mingus Big Band, Que Viva Mingus!, 1996
That is a version by the Mingus Big Band, in its 1996 recording, Que Viva
Mingus!, which was specifically devoted to Mingus’s latin music.
9. Meditations on Integration
In 1964, Charles Mingus recorded several concerts he made with his sextet, the
first two at Cornell University and at the New York Town Hall, and the other
ones in Europe — France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany. . .
With Mingus himself on the bass, this sextet comprised Eric Dolphy on alto
saxophone, bass clarinet, and flute, Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone, Johnny
Coles on trumpet Jaki Byard on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums.
Today’s tune is taken from the Belgian concert, in Liège, April 19th 1964.
“Meditation on Integration”, Charles Mingus Sextet, Live recording (Liège, 1964)
1964 was the year of of the Civil Rights Act that would bring an end to segregation
in the United States (which does not mean the story is ended, alas. . . ). The
next year, the Selma march and its bloody repression would lead to the Voting
Rights Act.
This tune is Mingus’s own reflection on the segregation process. As he said
during a German concert (but I can’t find the original text), there are places
in Southern US which are similar to concentration camps, only without murder
rooms. So Mingus renamed that tune as “Meditations on a pair of wire cutters”,
and soon as “Prayer for Eric”.
Indeed, during that European tour, Eric Dolphy announced to Mingus that he
would stay in Europe afterwards, but he died in Berlin in June 64, at age 36.
Dolphy’s death is yet another drama of racism. For it seems that he fell into
diabetic comma, but when brought to the hospital, they believed — as a black

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Figure 10: Original score of “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love”, by Charles
Mingus, 1974

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Figure 11: From Charles Mingus’s sextet’s concert in Paris, 1964 : Clifford
Jordan,Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy and Dannie Richmond

Figure 12: Demonstrators march down Constitution Avenue during the March
on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Figure 13: Eric Dolphy, sitting, with barytone and alto saxophones. Source
: (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-eric-dolphy-deepened-
my-love-of-jazz/amp)

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jazz musician — that he was a junkie and left him with the standard treatment
for overdose. See that Varsity paper for more of this story.
10. Sophisticated Lady
In the 60s and 70s, Mingus’s bands mostly played music he had composed. But
there were some exceptions, and today we shall listen to a rendition by Mingus
of a Duke Ellington song, “Sophisticated Lady”.
Mingus has played it in almost all of the concerts of the 1964 series, always in
the same form of a bass solo, only slightly accompanied by Jaki Byard on piano.
Here is the take from the first concert of the series; it was at Cornell University
(Ithaca, New York), on March 18, 1964.
“Sophisticated Lady”, Charles Mingus Sextet, Cornell, 1964
11. A Chair in the Sky
Apart from some hits (such as “Nostalgia in Times Square” or “Goodbye Porkpie
Hat”. . . ), I have the feeling that many of Mingus’s compositions have remained
quite obscure. The one I chose today was released in June 1979, a few months
after Mingus’s death.
Because of the Lou Gehrig disease that made him pass on Jan. 5th, 1979 he
wasn’t able to play bass anymore, and his role as a musician was that of a
composer, director, arranger. In 1978, he collaborated with the singer Joni
Mitchell.
The initial goal was to make an adaptation of T. S. Elliot’s Four quartets, but
that didn’t work out. The recording Mingus regroups a fantastic sextet : Jaco
Pastorius on bass, Herbie Hancock on electric piano, Wayne Shorter on soprano
saxophone, Peter Erskine on drums, Don Alias on percussion, and Joni Mitchell
herself on guitar and voices.
With an always hesitant melody and free interactions of bass, piano and saxo-
phone, this song, A chair in the sky, has a terribly melancholic atmosphere. . .
“A Chair in the Sky”, Joni Mitchell, Mingus, 1979
“There are things I wish I’d done
Some friends I’m gonna miss
Beautiful lovers
I never got the chance to kiss”

— Joni Mitchell, “A Chair in the Sky”

12. O.P.
Today’s song was played occasionally by Mingus in his concerts (the first known
take seems to be in 1962) but has not been published during his lifetime.
It is a tribute to the great bass player Oscar Pettiford. Oscar Pettiford was born
1922, the same year as Mingus. In the early 40s, he was one of the founders of

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Figure 14: In memory of Charles Mingus, 1922–1979. Joni Mitchell, Mingus
album. Artwork. (Painting representing Mingus with large strawhat, viewed
from back, sitting in a wheelchair.)

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Figure 15: Joni Mitchell, Mingus. Artwork. Painting representing Charles
Mingus, smiling

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bebop, with Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Thelonious Monk, especially during
their jam sessions at Minton’s Playhouse. Pettiford died in 1960, from a polio-like
virus and this composition of Mingus, O.P., has probably been written shortly
after his death.

Figure 16: Oscar Petitford holding his bass, with his shadow on the wall

As a homage to one of the bebop founders, it is a very fast tune: the score
indicates “Uptempo swing (as fast as possible)” ! Its structure is a bit unusual,
AABAC, meaning that the melody has two bridges. The tune was later reworked
by Mingus into his big opus “Epitaph”, a gigantic two-hour long piece around
history of jazz.
This 1995 interpretation by the Mingus Big Band, is tremendously energetic,
and very fast — 260bpm or so. All musicians of the large ensemble concur to a
joyous celebration of Oscar Pettiford and his music.

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“O.P.”, Mingus Big Band, Gunslinging Birds, 1995
13. Free Cell Block F, ’Tis Nazi U.S.A.
Today’s song is a beautiful swirling melody with an usual structure, its 6 sections
have 7, 9, 5, 12, 5 and 6 bars respectively, and it incorporates 5/4 bars to a
predominant 4/4 melody, as well as a bossa-nova-like bridge.
“I ought to give titles to my music that make people think.” Charles Mingus said
to jazz critic Nat Hentoff once, and today’s one was inspired by his reading of a
Ebony magazine article about electrocutions in southern prisons.

Figure 17: Charles Mingus smoking a cigar in front of the American flag.
(Photographed in 1977 by his wife Sue Mingus)

Taken from the 1974 recording Changes 2, this song features Charles Mingus
on acoustic bass, Jack Walrath on trumpet, George Adams on tenor saxophone,
Don Pullen on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums.
“Free Cell Block F, ’Tis Nazi U.S.A.”, Charles Mingus, Changes Two, 1974
14. Take The A Train
In 1961, Charles Mingus released a big band album that features music that
was composed before he had heard Charlie Parker, hence the title of this album,
Pre-Bird. Part of the tracks are compositions by Charles Mingus himself, but
we will listen to another one!
Let’s listen to the first track of the recording, a well known 1939 composition
of Billy Strayhorn, immortalized by Duke Ellington, and also sung by Ella
Fitzgerald and many other singers : Take The A Train.
“Take The A-Train”, Charles Mingus, Pre-Bird, 1961

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The piano introduction is characteristic (Paul Bley is on piano!), and the energy
of the band is entertaining. But take care of the arrangement: do you notice what
happens when they repeat the second phrase at 00:10 ? (Hint: put headphones
on.)
On the left side channel, the musicians repeat the second phrase, but on the
right side one, they play something else: another tune starts there, the 1930
Jimmy Hugh tune, “Exactly Like You”.
There are great solos by Paul Bley (piano), Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone), Jimmy
Knepper (trombone), Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone), supported by a fantastic
arrangement and the infatigable rhythm section of Charles Mingus and Dannie
Richmond.
The last rendition of the melody is also remarkable, where the two melodies
intertwine nicely, the piano introduction is added as a riff, and everybody lands
off with the standard “Take the A train” ending, as it should.

Figure 18: Score of the classic “Take the A Train”-ending (in C). Borrowed
from (https://www.learnjazzstandards.com/blog/learning-jazz/jazz-advice/6-
common-endings-jazz-musicians-know/)

15. Carolyn
In 1963, the barytone saxophone player Pepper Adams reunioned a group of
musicians to record a disk of Charles Mingus compositions. Paul Chambers or
Bob Cranshaw hold the bass, Hank Jones is on piano, and Danny Richmond
on drums. But also an excellent horns section: Zoot Sims, on tenor saxophone,
Charles McPherson on alto saxophone (he would soon replace Dolphy in Mingus’s
sextet), Bennie Powell on trombone, Thad Jones on piano. And of course Pepper
Adams on baritone saxophone.
Remember? We had already encountered Pepper Adams when we listened to
Mingus’s composition “Moanin’”, from the 1959 recording Blues and Roots.
The tunes were selected jointly by Mingus, Adams and vibist Teddy Charles,
and some of the arrangements (by Thad Jones or Adams, or Charles) depart
from what Mingus himself had done.
And this track, “Carolyn”, has been written especially by Charles Mingus for
this album in tribute to his daughter Carolyn Keikki Mingus.

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I hope you’ll enjoy its mixture of latin/swing feeling.
“Carolyn”, Pepper Adams, Plays compositions of Charlie Mingus, 1963
16. Love is a Dangerous Necessity
This tune doesn’t seem to have been often recorded, it appears on Mingus’s
Pithecanthropus Erectus and Reincarnation of a Love Bird from 1971 and 1974,
but I chose this 2002 version from the Mingus Big Band, with an arrangement
of Sy Johnson.
“Love is a Dangerous Necessity”, Mingus Big Band, Live recording, 2002
The two long choruses of Craig Handy on tenor saxophone and of Johnathan
Blake on the drums show how far the music can be pushed to thanks to the
musicality and energy of these cats. . . Also, at the beginning of Blake’s solo,
look out how Boris Kozlov’s line on the bass does give the impression that the
time will stop, and how this makes Blake smile.
17. Blue Cee
This is a song that Mingus wrote for his first wife, Celia, although they had
apparently already divorced when the song appeared in the recording The Clown.
This was actually the first blues that Mingus recorded. According to Mingus, it
was also written to prove some jazz critics that he could swing.
“Blue Cee”, Charles Mingus, The Clown, 1957
In 1952, it was with Celia (and drummer Max Roach) founded the Debut Record
company. After her divorce with Mingus, Celia would marry music and film
producer Saul Zaentz with whom they would have great success thanks to the
band Creedence Clearwater Revival, or the Amadeus movie.

Figure 19: From her obituary, two pictures of Celia Zaentz Mingus
(1925–2015). (https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sanluisobispo/name/celia-
zaentz-obituary?id=15842860)

There is a pun in the title of the song. Cee refers to Celia, also, but also to the
fact that this is a blues in C. Also, its writing is similar to Duke Ellington’s C
Jam Blues : a tune built on the repetition of a note, but here, it is a Bb that
resolves to C, not a G.

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 Figure 20: “Blue Cee”, Charles Mingus. Score

The band’s composition is a bit unusual: piano, bass, drums, alto saxophone
and trombone. (I love how the initial repetition of the melody is done by the
trombone, while the saxophone plays some chorus under it.) Mingus’s chorus is
remarkable.
18. Blues for a day
In the first years of his career, Charlie Mingus was a selected accompanist, and
he played as a sideman in great bands such as those of Illinois Jacquet, Louis
Armstrong, or Howard McGhee. For today, let’s listen to a track recorded in
December 1945. Charles Mingus takes the bass in Lucky Thompson’s band
and Dinah Washington sings this “Blues for a day”. (This is Milt Jackson on
vibraphone, Gene Porter on clarinet, possibly Lucky Thompson for the sax).
“Blues for a Day”, Dinah Washington with the Lucky Thompson orchestra, 1945
There’s so much sadness in those lyrics. . .
“Baby, if you love me
Then show me that you care
Yes, baby, if you love me
Then please show me that you care
’Cause every time I need you
You make darn sure that you’re not there”
19. Self Portrait in Three Colors
Today’s tune is a sumptuous ballad from Mingus’s classic Mingus Ah Um, but
in a recent version, by Ravi Coltrane’s quartet. Accompanying Ravi Coltrane

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Figure 21: Dinah Washington

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on tenor saxophone, we have Darry Hall on bass, George Colligan on piano, and
Steve Hass on drums.
“Self Portrait in Three Colors”, Ravi Coltrane Sextet, Mad 6, 2003
And while you listen to this beautiful song, you can read Charles Mingus’s own
words, the one with which he starts his autobiography, Beneath the Underdog,
and then trying to discern the underlying three colors. . .
— In other words I am three. One man stands forever in the middle,
unconcerned, unmoved, watching, waiting to be allowed to express
what he sees to the other two. The second man is like a frightened
animal that attacks for fear of being attacked. Then there’s an over-
loving gentle person who lets people into the uttermost sacred temple
of his being and he’ll take insults and be trusting and sign contracts
without reading them and get talked down to working cheap or for
nothing, and when he realizes what’s been done to him he feels like
killing and destroying everything around him including himself for
being so stupid. But he can’t—he goes back inside himself.
— Which one is real?
— They’re all real. — The man who watches and waits, the man
who attacks because he’s afraid, and the man who wants to trust
and love but retreats each time he finds himself betrayed. Mingus
One, Two and Three. Which is the image you want the world to see?
— What do I care what the world sees, I’m only trying to find out
how I should feel about myself. I can’t change the fact that they’re
all against me – that they don’t want me to be a success. — Who
doesn’t? — Agents and businessmen with big offices who tell me, a
black man, that I’m abnormal for thinking we should have our share
of the crop we produce. Musicians are as Jim-Crowed as any black
motherfucker on the street and the . . . the . . . well, they want to
keep it that way.
Charles Mingus, Beneath the Underdog
20. Little Royal Suite
A long tune written for a big band concert at Lincoln Center (New York City)
that took place on February 4, 1972, with an incredible line-up.
The song was written for Roy Eldridge, but the old trumpet player (born 1911)
was sick and couldn’t make it for the concert. He was apparently replaced by
the young Jon Faddis (only 18 at the time of the concert)!!
Today’s version is the one by the Mingus Big Band, recorded in 1999 in the
album Blues and Politics. As for the 1972 concert, the arrangement is due to Sy
Johnson.
“Little Royal Suite”, Mingus Big Band, Blues & Politics, 1999
The tune has many parts. Listen how it starts with drums and trumpet. . .

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Figure 22: Roy Eldridge

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Figure 23: Jon Faddis

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and then goes on with a quiet ballad with the lead on trumpet (probably Earl
Gardner). At some points, the tune has a latin feel, with an even pulsation on
the cymbal (almost a samba on the bass at 7:04). Something else, definitely
post-bop-big-bandish starts at 7:50, with saxophone chorus. And around 12:00,
it resolutely turns into an unmistakable blues. At the end of the tune, trumpet,
sax and baritone sing the same tune in a remarkable 3-voice arrangement.
21. Fables of Faubus
Mingus’s music is full of rage, and the reason for that rage is racial injustice, in
its strongest terms.
Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em shoot us!
Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em stab us!
Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em tar and feather us!",
Oh, Lord, no more swastikas!. . .
does he sing on the opening of today’s song, “Fables of Faubus”.
“Original Faubus Fables”, Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus, 1960
And this tune has a racially charged history.
It was written as a direct response to words of the Arkansas governor Orval
Faubus who was refusing the integration of nine black teenagers at Little Rock
Central High School. Let me quote Wikipedia’s Little Rock Nine article: After
“several segregationist councils threatened to hold protests at Central High and
physically block the black students from entering the school, Governor Orval
Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists.”
The situation was temporally resolved by President Eisenhower who federalized
the entire 10,000-member Arkansas National Guard, taking it out of Faubus’s
control, and the nine students could attend school — under protection of the
army. See this Life online photo gallery.
These students had a difficult year.
They were assaulted, they were hurt.
But that was not the end of it, since Faubus simply had the public schools closed
in 1958. Only in 1959 could the crisis come to an end.
[Little Rock, 1959. Rally at state capitol Photographer: John T. Bledsoe
(http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.03120)] (images/Faubus1959.png)
In 1959, Mingus recorded a first version of the song for his album Mingus Ah Um.
But Columbia refused that they say the words he had written, so that version
was an instrumental one. And because of legal reasons, the title of the song had
to be changed when Mingus recorded it in 1960 for the new Candid company
founded by Archie Bleyer and directed by the jazz writer and civil rights activist
Nat Hentoff.

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Figure 24: Protest at Little Rock Central High School (1959?)

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That same year, Candid published another notable jazz recording by drummer
Max Roach and singer Abbey Lincoln : We Insist! containing their “Freedom
New Suite.”

Figure 25: We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite. Featuring Abbey
Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, Olatunji. Disc cover

Name me someone who’s ridiculous, Dannie.

Governor Faubus!
Why is he so sick and ridiculous?
He won’t permit integrated schools.
22. Piece of Mind
Even Mingus and Roach, those two musicians filled with rage and desire for more
justice, could wish for a simple relaxed mood. And they provide the rhythm
section for this superb recording of Hazel Scott.

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I didn’t know who was Hazel Scott. And I must confess that, unknowing of
Anglo-saxon first names (nor of the heir of Julia Roberts or Emily Blunt), I hadn’t
realized that Hazel was the first name of a woman. And what an extraordinary
one!
Born 1920 in Trinidad she moves to New York City with her mother in 1924.
A child prodigy, she can play whatever music she hears, and she becomes at 8
the private pupil of a Julliard school professor. In 1940, she becomes a movie
star but refused 4 roles in row, because she would have to play a “singing maid,
and as a Black woman — and an educated, classically trained musician — she
resented the racist overtones of such parts. She even demanded equal pay to her
White counterparts.” (From a Washington Post paper).
She had had to fight segregation. In 1945, reiterating what they had done for
Marian Anderson in 1939, the “Daughters of the American Revolution” refused
that she plays in Constitution Hall.

Figure 26: The NAACP protests the refusal by the Daughters of the American
Revolution to allow Hazel Scott to perform at its hall in 1945. (AP). Source :
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/04/24/hazel-scott-jim-crow/)

In 1950, she is the first African-american woman to have her own show on TV.
There she performed with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Today’s recording is
a tune from the 1955 recording that Scott would do with Mingus and Roach.
This is a superb piano trio recording. Among all these beautiful tunes, I propose
you to listen to a composition of Scott herself, “Peace of Mind”.
“Piece of Mind”, Hazel Scott with Max Roach and Charles Mingus, relaxed
PIANO moods, 1955

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In 1950, her show came to an abrupt end when she had to face McCarthyism.
“We should not be written off by the vicious slanders of little and petty men,”
she said to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. That did not help
her and she moved to France from 1957 to 1967.
23. Fables of Faubus
Two days ago, we were listening to Fables of Faubus, the original version, with
lyrics. And as iconic of Mingus’s music this song is, it was to be played by other
groups of musicians. So it’ll make some good to listen to it a few more times.
For tonight, it’ll be a version by the pianist Ran Blake. This is a 1969 solo
recording, with a funny title — Blue Potato & Other Outrages. It seems to start
smoothly, but in the end the irony and rage emerge too.
“Fables of Faubus”, Ran Blake, Blue Potato & Other Outrages, 1969
24. Fables of Faubus
I would like to propose yet another version of Fables of Faubus. Those of
you who are attentive might have discerned the rule that I follow for choosing
interpretations and pardon me for slightly diverging from this rule today. Still,
this will be a big band version.
Eleven musicians, ten horns and an accordion, revisit Mingus’s music and kind
of free it from the arrangements that now sound familiar, too familiar maybe
since most of the recordings of Fables of Faubus are built on the original Sy
Johnson’s arrangement.
“Fables of Faubus”, Tá Lam 11, Mingus!, 2011
No bass, then, and no drums neither. The whole band is lead by Gebhard
Ullmann (on bass clarinet), but I had been attracted by Daniel Erdmann’s name
on the cover — he his a member of the astonishing trio Das Kapital (saxophone,
electric guitar, drums).
I am certain this will lead you to unsuspected places.
25. Alice’s Wonderland
For tonight, that’ll be a live recording of Mingus’s quintet, one evening of January
1959. John Handy and Booker Ervin play alto and tenor saxophones, Richard
Wyands is on piano, Dannie Richmond on drums, and Charlie Mingus on piano.
The tune has almost the same title as a lively 1951 waltz by Fain/Hilliard that I
love pretty much, and of which Bill Evans’s trio (with Scott LaFaro and Paul
Motian) made a thrillingly melancholic version in 1961.
But this “Alice’s Wonderland” is a Mingus composition, whose title has also
been “Diane” — but don’t confuse with the beautiful (and equally melancholic)
Rapee/Pollack tune recorded by Paul Bley and Chet Baker in 1985.
Mingus wrote in the liner notes for his live “Wonderland” recording : “It may be
the prettiest thing I ever wrote—a girl trying to make it in this big rough world,

32
like I am. I try to show her sadness (the alto on top) but also her strength in
her art and in her conviction in what she believes in (the tenor on the bottom)
even if there are harsh, unresolved parts of her life. She was a painter I knew. It
was written for her because I loved her at one time.”
“Alice’s Wonderland”, Charles Mingus, Wonderland, 1959
26. Body and Soul
Today, let’s listen to a 1930 composition of Johnny Green, with lyrics by Heyman,
Sour and Eyton : Body and Soul. A wonderful ballad, one of my favorite tunes.
This version is definitely unique in Charles Mingus’s discography. — No large
ensemble, no bass neither : he’s alone at the piano. That was recorded in 1963.
“Body and Soul”, Charles Mingus, Mingus Plays Piano, spontaneous compositions
and improvisations, 1963
The quietness of this version should not abuse you. In his biography of Mingus,
Gene Santoro tells us that this happened at quite a troubled time of Mingus’s
life. The big loft he was trying to set up to host musicians — and music — had
to close, because “fire department inspectors wanted the floor reinforced, which
would cost six to eight thousand dollars. And the neighbors complained about
noise!” Nevertheless, “he was up every night, playing the piano. He told Bob
Thiele he wanted to record a solo piano disc, but he was nervous. It wasn’t like
being onstage, or at home. On July 30, 1963, he recorded eleven tunes at RCA
Studios.”
That recording became Charles Mingus plays piano, spontaneous compositions
and improvisations, a combination of free interpretations of jazz standards and
of compositions.
27. Eclipse
It seems the first recording of this song, “Eclipse” was 1953, in a vocal version
sung by Janet Thurlow.
Mingus wrote he had sent the tune to Billie Holiday, but didn’t know whether
she received it. He says he figured she could sing it because he had heard her
sing Strange Fruit.
Here, in a free interpretation by Judy Niemack and Mal Waldron, from a 1994
recording dedicated to the music composed by Mingus, Monk and Waldron
himself.
“Eclipse”, Judy Niemack and Mal Waldron, Mingus, Monk and Mal, 1994
28. Eclipse
Another version of “Eclipse”, this time recorded in 2002 by the Mingus Big Band,
so without lyrics, but a much richer orchestration and a latin feel.
“Eclipse, Mingus Big Band, Tonight at noon. . . , 2002

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Figure 27: Mingus Plays Piano, spontaneous compositions and improvisations,
1963. Disc cover

34
 29. Devil Woman
This was a recording of Mingus I didn’t know anything until Thomas R. told me
about it last friday. So let’s listen to something from it. Oh Yeah !
Charlie Mingus is with a band of fellow musicians, Book Ervin on tenor saxophone,
Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Dannie Richmond on drums, the great Rahsaan
Roland Kirk on a lot of horns (flute, siren, tenor saxophone, manzello and strich),
Doug Watkins on bass. . . what?
Yes, Watkins on bass. Because Mr Charlie is on piano and vocals. You’ll see
he is a great pianist, and his deep raucous voice makes great intros for this
recording which is infused with the soul of blues.
Devil Woman
“I’m gonna get me a Devil Woman
Angel Woman don’t mean me no good”
“Devil Woman”, Charles Mingus, Oh Yeah, 1962
30. Now’s The Time
Now’s the time to listen to some recording of Charlie Mingus. And standing
next to Mingus, on that night of 1953, Art Taylor on drums and John Lewis on
piano, as well as 4 trombones ! — J.J. Johnson, Bennie Green, Kai Winding
and Willie Dennis.
Composed by Charlie Parker, this tune has become a standard.
“Now’s The Time”, Charles Mingus, Live at Putnam Central Club, 1953
(Order of the trombone choruses : J.J. Johnson, Bennie Green, Kai Winding
and Willie Dennis)
31.
Charlie Parker — Bird — is an anchor for every modern jazz musician. Initially
a devotee of Duke Ellington’s music, it is apparently to Mingus’s wife Celia
that we owe his recognition of Parker’s music. Remember the title of that disc,
“Pre-Bird”, Mingus had recorded, with music that was composed before he had
ever listened to Parker’s music ?
So that title, “Reincarnation of a Lovebird”, is really about reviving Charlie
Parker’s music, in Mingus’s own style.
“It has a little bit of what Charlie Parker did, but usually when I write something
about Monk or Bird, I’m not trying to write the way they write, I just write my
interpretation of my feeling for them and their feeling for me. As for the name,
I was doing a benefit for Bird at Carnegie Hall and somebody said they saw a
feather fall. I wrote a poem about that.”

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Figure 28: Pre-Bird, Charlie Mingus. Disc cover

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We shall listen to Mingus’s original recording once, with its introduction built up
from many Parker’s phrases, but for tonight, I propose this melancholic version
by Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone and Gil Evans on electric piano.
“Reincarnation of a Lovebird”, Gil Evans/Steve Lacy
Yes, this is the Gil Evans, pianist, composer, arranger, band leader, who worked
with Miles Davis and many other musicians. He was born 1912, just ten years
before Mingus, and coincidentally died in Cuernavaca (Mexico), the same place
as Charlie Mingus.
Born in 1934, the saxophonist Steve Lacy was younger. Initially into dixieland,
his meeting with Cecil Taylor pushed him to free jazz, and to Monk’s music.
This recording was made in Paris, 1988, where the saxophonist Steve Lacy was
living since the beginning of the 70s.
32. Better Get Hit In Your Soul
This is a 6/4 piece, six beats per bar, which Mingus composed for Columbia
in 1959. He wanted to give this tune the same feeling of a former piece which
Atlantic hadn’t published.
Around the same time, Cannonball Adderley released “This Here”, which had
eventually more success.
Today’s version is not by the Mingus Big Band (like I had planned to—the
version on YouTube seems to be another tune), but by the Woody Herman Big
Band. It was recorded in 1979 at Monterey, a few months after the death of
Mingus.
Here it goes!
One, two, three. . . One two three. . .
“Better Get Hit In Your Soul”, Woody Herman Big Band, 1979
The style is not as round as it was 10 years before, jazz-rock influences can be
felt, it may be a bit too fast for my taste, but with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie,
Slide Hampton on the horns. . . I thought you had to listen to this! Let you
energize by it!
33. Jump Monk
An homage to Thelonious Monk built on a syncopated descending phrase and a
puzzling 8-bar collective improvisation passage in section A.
It was recorded live at the Cafe Bohemia on Dec 23, 1955. (There are two discs
made from this session.) George Barrow is on tenor sax, Eddie Bert on trombone,
Mal Waldron on piano, Charles Mingus on bass and Willie Jones on drums.
“Jump Monk”, Charles Mingus at the Café Bohemia, 1955

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Figure 29: Gil Evans

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Figure 30: Steve Lacy

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 Figure 31: Cannonball Adderley

“It’s not supposed to sound like Monk. I liked him. I don’t think it sounds like
anything he’s ever done. The reason I called it ‘Jump’ is because Monk was
always moving around.”
The Cafe Bohemia was a bar and restaurant place in New York City who became
a jazz place for a few years (1955-1960), after Charlie Parker proposed to play
in exchange of drinks he hadn’t been able to pay. However, he died on March 12
and didn’t made the gig.
This website has some history of this club and the music that it gave birth to,
thanks to its “progressive jazz only” policy. Basically all big cats of that era,
Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Petitford, Kenny Clarke. . .
34. Lady Bird
In the Dec 23 1955 gig at Cafe Bohemia where Mingus’s band played that Jump
Monk, they also played some standards.
That one is a composition of Tadd Dameron : “Lady Bird”.
The exposition of the theme sounds like if it is a Mingus theme, with large
changes in the dynamic, but the choruses are closer to the hard bop style. You’ll
note the drums chorus by Willie Jones, with added spice from the horns.
“Lady Bird”, A night at Café Bohemia, 1955
Tadd Dameron (1917-1965) was a pianist, arranger, composer in the bop style.

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Figure 32: Bohemia After Dark, Julian Cannonball Adderley, 1955, Disc Cover

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We owe him many standards, such as this “Lady Bird”, “If You Can See Me
Now”, “Hot House”, “Good Bait”. . .

Figure 33: Tadd Dameron

35. Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me!
A few days ago, we had listened to a track from the 1962 Oh Yeah album. And
as Thomas R. had told me, one of the tracks of that album has a terrible title
Definitely a blues.
Today’s version acknowledges that blues, rythm’n blues and rock’n roll are sisters
in faith (to the Lord of Music). It is extracted from a recording produced by
Hal Willner: Weird Neightmare — Meditations on Mingus.
“Oh Lord, Don’t Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me!”, Weird Nightmare
— Meditations on Mingus, Hal Willner, 1992

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Bill Frisell is the main guitar player in that recording, but the track I have
chosen goes further afar since this is Charlie Watts on drums, Keith Richards
on guitar and vocals, Chuck Leavell on piano. Oh Yeah!
36. Don’t Let It Happen Here.
By the Mingus Big Band, in their Blues and Politics recording. (special dedication
to all antifascists)
The tune starts with a spoken text, only accompanied with heartbraking horns.
One day they came and they took the communists, and I said nothing
because I was not a communist. Then one day they came and they
took the people of the Jewish faith, and I said nothing because I
had no faith. Then one day they came and took the unionists, and I
said nothing because I was not a unionist. They burned the Catholic
churches one day, and I said nothing because I was a Protestant. One
day they came and they took me, and I could say nothing because I
was as guilty as they were of genocide, destroying the rights of any
man to live.
As you may have guessed, the lyrics are inspired by a famous predication of
Martin Niemöller, a German pastor who survived the nazi concentration camps
and devoted his life to peace. However, the exact text is kind of lost.
Mingus had first performed that song at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1965.
We still have to fight so that racism, violence and hate do not happen here, nor
anywhere.
“Don’t Let It Happen Here”, Mingus Big Band, Blues and Politics, 1999
37. Opus Four
A strange tune, mostly swinging, with small passages in 6/4 with a latin feel. It
was first played at the Village Vanguard in 1973, under the title “No Name”,
and published in the album Mingus Moves.
Don Pullen is on piano, George Adams on tenor saxophone, Ronald Hampton
on trumpet, Dannie Richmond on drums, and Charles Mingus on bass.
“Opus Four”, Charles Mingus, Mingus Moves, 1973
Sometimes, the composition is credited to George Adams, who started to work
with Mingus at that time. After Mingus’s death, Adams, Pullen and Richmond
would be part of a quartet (with Cameron Brown on bass).
I should add a thread someday about the drummer Dannie Richmond whose
collaboration with Mingus encompassed more than 20 years. Clearly, all the
variations of rhythm and tempo which are prevalent in Mingus’s music wouldn’t
have worked without a drummer like him.
38. I’ll remember April.

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 Figure 34: George Adams and Charles Mingus

Figure 35: Charles Mingus and Dannie Richmond

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This 1941 song is often played in a very romantic mood. In today’s version,
recorded at Antibes in 1960, the Mingus sextet plays it quite fast, with dissonances
and rhythmic variations. . .
Bud Powell is on piano, Dannie Richmond on drums, Booker Ervin and Eric
Dolphy on saxophones, Ted Curson on bass, and Charlie Mingus on bass.
“I’ll Remember April”, Charles Mingus, Live at Antibes, 1960
The very long piano chorus of Powell is interesting, of course, listen him singing
what he plays with a raucous voice. . . And pay attention to Ervin and Dolphy
trading fours without any rhythmic section, then twos, then ones. . .
You can also try to catch the rhythmic variations I had evoked in the first
exposition of the theme. The structure is 48 bars, A B A, and on the first A,
Richmond plays a latin rhythm, and on the second he plays 3 over 4.
39. Smooch
A beautifully tender ballad that has been recorded under different names, “Weird
Nightmare”, “Pipe Dream”, “Vassarlean”. . . This version is intepreted in 1994
by Mal Waldron on piano and Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone.
“Smooch”, Steve Lacy/Mal Waldron, Communiqué, 1994
Mal Waldron (1925-2002) played with Mingus in the years 1954-1957 in the
Cafe Bohemia recording, then with Booker Little and Dolphy. He is also known
for his work as the accompanist of singers — Billie Holiday, of course, but also
Abbey Lincoln or Jeanne Lee.
He did many recordings in duet with saxophonists, Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy,
Marion Brown, David Murray. . . and all of those I’ve listened to are superb.
40. Nostalgia in Times Square
There’s no reason not to listen to a good song twice, so let’s go back to “Nostalgia
In Times Square” — we had listened to a version by Patricia Barber on day 3.
This 1993 version by the Mingus Big Band features an exceptional trumpet
chorus (Randy Brecker?), followed by as good sax (Ronnie Cuber, I’d guess),
piano (Kenny Drew Jr), bass (Michael Formanek) choruses. The spoken prologue
adds a kind of hip hop feeling to the natural energy of that tune.
“Nostalgia in Times Square”, Mingus Big Band 93
41. Smooch
We’ve listened to that tune a few days ago, played by Mal Waldron and Steve
Lacy, but upon general request, here is another version where Charlie Mingus
is on piano, within the Miles Davis Quartet : Miles Davis, trumpet; Charlie
Mingus, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Max Roach, drums.
“Smooch”, The Miles Davis Quartet, 1953

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 Figure 36: Mal Waldron

The 1954 album Blue Haze which features this track is a compilation of two
recording sessions, in May 1953 and May 1954. For the other tracks, the pianists
are Horace Silver and John Lewis. One learns on the back cover that John Lewis
had to leave the session because of an emergency, and Charlie Mingus — who
apparently was present, because he had composed the piece — could replace the
pianist.
42. Cherokee
Maybe the apex of the bebop repertoire, a Ray Noble tune based on the harmonic
progression of another one (“Indiana”), at high speed: this is “Cherokee”.
Charlie Mingus recorded it a few times, even in late concerts, but this is an early
trio version, from the 1953 Massey Hall concert. Mingus is on bass, Bud Powell
on piano and Max Roach on drums; A pure gem.
“Cherokee”, Charles Mingus Trio, Live At Massey Hall, 1953
All three gallop at an incredible speed, as if all horses came out from hell to
pursuit them. Max Roach is on brushes, and he punctuates his fast swing (it
almost sounds like a cavalcade) with bass drum “bombs”. His chorus at 3:00 is
astounding of virtuosity and musicality.
43. Scenes of the City
I wouldn’t be so affirmative about its beginnings, but since the 30s, jazz is

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Figure 37: Miles Davis Quartet, Prestige LP 161, Blue Haze, 1954

47
mostly a music of the modern city, immediately associated with New York City,
although many other have seen the birth of important (r)evolutions of that
music: New Orleans, Saint Louis, Chicago. . . Paris and Stockholm as well. . .
Recorded only once by Charlie Mingus in 1957, “Scenes of the City” is viewed
by its composer as a musical sketchbook. “I got the idea because one of the girls
I was living with was a painter. She had a B.A. in art.”
This a short (10 bar) and simple melody, mostly descending, which serves as a
support for a spoken text, with variations in tempo, rhythm, mood.

Figure 38: Charles Mingus, “Scenes of the City”, score

Well here I am right back where I was yesterday

And the day before, and the day before that
Sitting on a high barstool
Holding my dreams up to the sound of Jazz music
I live uptown, where? I dont exactly know
Im always downtown
And it seems I’m always with the blues
This 1985 version by Branford Marsalis is shorter than Mingus’s original (5 min
vs 11) and adds a bit of end-of-20th-century modernity.
“Scenes of the City”, Branford Marsalis, 1985
That’s pretty music boy
But it aint “really” pretty
It aint like girls in magazines
Its beautiful. . . its terribly beautiful man
Say. . . like a woman you might of been with last night
Or say maybe an hour ago

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Figure 39: New York, by night, under the rain

Figure 40: Unknown photograph

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 44. Peggy’s Blue Skylight
“I wrote it at Peggy Hitchcock’s house. We were friends. She wanted to take the
blue plastic shield of the cockpit of a fighter plane and replace her skylight with
it, so the sky would always be blue. The governement wouldn’t let her do it.”
I leave you to discover who Peggy Hitchcock was, and what kind of hospitality
she offered to artists such as Charles Mingus, Maynard Ferguson, Allen Ginsberg.
(Hint: Tim Leary is not far at all. . . )

Figure 41: The Hitchcock Mansion

So today’s tune is “Peggy’s Blue Skylight”. Interpreted in 2018 by the Mingus

Big Band at Ronnie Scott’s Club (London). Wayne Escoffery is on trumpet,
Helen Sung on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass, and guessing by the cap, it should
be Donald Edwards on drums.
“Peggy’s Blue Skylight”, The Mingus Big Band, Live at Ronnie Scott’s Club,
2018
45. Parkeriana
I’ve already evoked a few times in this thread the influence and admiration of
Charles Mingus towards Charlie Parker. The present tune is kind of Mingus’s
musical anthology of Parker’s music.
Mingus played it at many European concerts in 1964. I initially intended to
share the version from the Norway concert which has a video, and a surprisingly

50
long (and unprepared) introduction by Mingus, but it ends abruptly to “Take
the A Train”.
So maybe the longer version at Bremen, also in 1964 is a better one. Take place
comfortably on the couch, with something nice to sip, and enjoy these 21 minutes
of “Parkeriana” !
“Parkeriana”, Charles Mingus, Live at Bremen, 1964
46. Laura
Yesterday, we listened to Mingus honoring Parker’s music, and today he plays
the bass in a recording by vibraphonist Teddy Charles which honors Parker —
Word From Bird.
The choice of the song is motivated by Dizzy Gillespie’s chorus in the song
that I’ll offer you next Wednesday, and by some event of woman policing that
happened yesterday in France.

Figure 42: Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. Laura. Otto Preminger. 1944

A composition of David Raskin for a 1944 Otto Preminger movie: “Laura”.

This is a quartet version : Teddy Charles on vibraphone, Charles Mingus on
bass, Hall Overton on piano and Ed Shaughnessy on drums.
“Laura”, Teddy Charles, Word of Bird, 1956
47. Remember Rockefeller at Attica
A brand new recording of a politically charged track. I don’t have lyrics for this
tune that refers to the 1971 rebellion at Attica prison. But John Lennon/Yoko
Onoa have some for their own song:

51
 Free the prisoners, jail the judges Free all prisoners everywhere All
they want is truth and justice All they need is love and care
Nelson Rockefeller was the governor of New York state at that time, and he was
the one who ordered the bloody assault of the rebels, with strong support of
Richard Nixon. In 1974, he would become Gerald Ford’s vice-president.
Quoted in Wikipedia, Attica Prison riot, the New York State Special Commission
on Attica wrote, “With the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th
century, the State Police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was
the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War.”
This 2022 version by clarinetist Harry Skoler, with Kenny Barron on piano,
Christian McBride on bass, Johnathan Blake on drums, Nicholas Payton on
trumpet. At the end of the Arrangement by Fabian Almazan you’ll have some
recollection of the event.
“Remember Rockefeller at Attica”, Harry Skoler, Living in Sound, 2022
John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s lyrics for their song “Attica State” go on with :
They all live in suffocation Let’s not watch them die in sorrow Now’s
the time for revolution Give them all a chance to grow
48. Black Saint & Sinner Lady.
This is the title of a 1963 recording of Charles Mingus, devoted to a single
musical piece in six movements, from “Mode A - Solo dancer” to “Mode F -
Group and solo dance”.
Originally 39 min long, and arranged for 11 instruments, this version by the
Mingus Big Band is shorter, 16 min, but wider since the band features some 20
people.
“Black Saint & Sinner Lady”, Mingus Big Band, Tonight at Noon, 2002
Last and least is me. Mingus. I wrote the music for dancing and
listening. It is true music with much and many of my meanings. It
is my living epitaph from birth til the day I first heard of Bird and
Diz. Now it is me again.
This music is only one little wave of styles and waves of little ideas
my mind has encompassed through living in a society that calls itself
sane, as long as you’re not behind iron bars where there at least one
can’t be half as crazy as in most of the ventures our leaders take
upon themselves to do and think for us, even to the day we should
be blown up to preserve their idea of how life should be. Crazy?
They’d never get out of the observation ward at Bellevue. I did. So,
listen how. Play this record.”
This is from the liner notes for the original recording, written by Mingus himself.
But he also gave the pen to his then psychologist Dr. Pollock who wrote: “To
me this particular composition contains Mr. Mingus’s personal and also a social

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Figure 43: Inmates of Attica state prison in upstate New York raise
their fists to show solidarity in their demands during a negotiation ses-
sion with state prisons Commissioner Russell Oswald, Sept. 10, 1971. AP,
[https://nypost.com/2016/08/20/the-true-story-of-the-attica-prison-riot/]

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Figure 44: Charles Mingus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, 1963. Disc
cover

54
message. He feels intensively. He tries to tell people he is in great pain and
anguish because he loves. He cannot accept that he is alone, all by himself; he
wants to love and be loved. His music is a call for acceptance, respect, love,
understanding, fellowship, freedom — a plea to change the evil in man and to
end hatred.”
By the way, the subtitle for Mode D is “Stop! Look! And Sing Songs of
Revolutions!”.
Don’t you believe that our world is still in need that we all stop ! look ! and
sing songs of revolutions ?
49. Cryin’ Blues
How do you say “seum” when you’re a black musician ? Blues, which is all I can
feel now. So this week, until I’m better will be about blues, with little comments
(even listening to music is painful).
From Charles Mingus’d 1960 album Blues and Roots, this is “Cryin’ Blues.”
“Cryin’ Blues”, Charles Mingus, Blues and Roots, 1960
50. Devil Blues
Devil Blues, from the 1975 recording Changes 1, sung by Tenor saxophonist
George Adams. If you’ve never heard a blues before, here is one.
“Devil Blues”, Charles Mingus, Changes 1, 1975
The lyrics are due to the blues musician Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (1924-
2005).

Figure 45: Clarence “Gathemouth” Brown

51 .Noddin’ Ya Head Blues

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Yet another blues. A composition of Charles Mingus, initially recorded in 1977
for his album Three of Four Shades of Blue.
From her 2006 recording These days, Ellen Johnson sings this “Noddin’ Ya Head
Blues” (lyrics seem to be hers), solely accompanied on bass by Darek Holes.
52. Hog Callin’ Blues.
The blues has made this thread slower this week, I’m sorry. This track was first
recorded in Mingus’s 1962 Oh Yeah album, but this will be a 1995 version by
the Mingus Big Band.
“Hog Callin’ Blues”, The Mingus Big Band, Gunslinging Birds, 1995
The arrangement is a long chorus of John Stubblefield on tenor saxophone, with
many quotes from other tunes of Mingus, and this incredible riff from Haitian
fight song, recognizable among all. . .
John Stubblefield (1945-2005) was trained in Chicago with AACM musician
Richard Muhal Abrahams. Besides his work for the Mingus Big Band for 13
years, he played with the World Saxophone Quartet, Nat Adderley, Kenny
Barron or McCoy Tyner. . .
Published as a leader, his recordings Prelude (1977), Bushman Song (1986, with
Geri Allen on piano!), Countin’ on the Blues (1987) are really good albums, but
I don’t like the “disco” esthetics of his Sophisticated Funk (1990).

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Figure 46: John Stubblefield

57
58
 53. Farewell, Farwell
Just a short message for tonight, it’s election night in France, and I was wondering
what tune would fit the results (good or bad, they’re certainly below what social
justice and climate change demand).
Because a certain number of them will nevertheless leave politics, for good, let’s
listen to this “Farewell” tune.
“Farewell, Farwell”, Charles Mingus, Something Like A Bird, 1978
While the album bears his name, it is as a composer and arranger that he
contributed to the music recorded by this large ensemble on Jan 23, 1978. The
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis he was suffering of would take him a bit less than
one year later.
While the album bears his name, it is as a composer and arranger that he
contributed to the music recorded by this large ensemble on Jan 23, 1978. The

59
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis he was suffering of would take him a bit less than
one year later.
54. C-Jam Blues
One joyful blues composed by Duke Ellington, recorded live at Carnegie Hall,
January 19, 1974
“C-Jam Blues”, Mingus At Carnegie Hall, 1974
At 9:35, Roland Kirk takes a fabulous chorus. Peter Keepnews wrote in Downbeat
: “Kirk a notorious scene-stealer, pulled out all the stops in his solos, to the
audience’s delight. Mingus grinned like a rotund Cheshire cat through the whole
thing.”
Kirk starts quietly, with a bluesy phrase, and suddenly, he starts growling,
shrieking, as a parody of the preceding chorus by George Adams. Alternating
between soulful melodies and continuous sound for 5 minutes, the energy will
never quit him.
At 12:30, he quotes A Love Supreme ! The crowd erupts when he finishes his
chorus, and I wonder how Jon Faddis dared starting a trumpet chorus after that
! In any case, the tune will end in a total musical chaos.
55. Tonight at Noon
It’s time for some music of Charles Mingus played by somebody whose musical
fame is unrelated to jazz. On electric guitar, welcome Mr Andy Summers, playing
“Tonight at Noon”.
“Tonight at Noon”, Andy Summers, Peggy’s Blue Skylight, 1999
Mingus recorded that song in 1957 but it was only issued in 1964. In 1999, the
former guitarist from the rock group Police devoted a whole album to Mingus’s
music.
56. Consider Me
A poem by Langston Hughes put into music by Charles Mingus for a 1958 album
entitled The Weary Blues.
“Consider me,
A colored boy,
Once sixteen,
Once five, once three,
Once nobody,
Now me. ”
In this 2015 version by the Mingus Big Band, the poem is recited by band
member Frank Lacy.
“Consider Me”, Mingus Big Band, Ku-Umba, 2015

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Figure 47: Roland Kirk

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“My Sugar,
Consider her
Who works, too—
Has to.
One don’t make enough
For all the stuff
It takes to live. ”
57. Double G Train
Langston Hughes’s musical album The Weary Blues is made of two parts, one
played by Leonard Feather, the other by Mingus.
The track “Double G Train” puts into music various poems of Hughes, most of
them referring to dreams, childhood, hope. It ends with the poem “Democracy”.
Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.

I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.

I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.
I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you. ”
— Langston Hughes, Democracy, Words Like Freedom.
58. Memories of You
A 1930 song by Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Andy Razaf, recorded in August 1957
by Charles Mingus in his album East Coasting (the rest consists in Mingus’s
compositions).
This may be the only recording where Charles Mingus and Bill Evans play
together. It is said that Mingus called Evans at 4am to make this recording, and
that he sight read the whole session.

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“Memories of You”, Charles Mingus, East Coasting, 1957
Waking skies at sunrise
Every sunset too
Seems to be bringing me
Memories of you

Here and there, everywhere

Scenes that we once knew
And they all just recall
Memories of you

How I wish, I could forget those

Those happy yesteryears
That have left a rosary of tears.
Two years later, in 1959, Miles Davis would hire the pianist to record the
legendary Kind of Blue. And two more years later, 1961, Bill Evans would
change the sound of jazz trio with Scott La Faro and Paul Motian.
Your face beams in my dreams
’Spite of all I do
Everything seems to bring
Memories of you

And your face beams in my dreams

’Spite of all I do
Everything seems to bring
Memories, just memories of you
59. Haitian Fight Song.
We already listened to that song on day 5, in Mingus’s 1957 version. To quote
Brian Zimmerman, “he wrote [it] as an ode to the triumph of freedom in the
face of persecution. The song, one of the bassist and bandleader’s most enduring
compositions, features some classic Mingus tropes: an intensely brooding solo
bass opening, an urgent burst of call-and-response, and, of course, a round of
raucous, blues-tinged solos.”
Charles Mingus – “Haitian Fight Song”, by Brian Zimmerman
Ready for today’s version ?
Founded by a sound engineer/drummer and a trombone player, this band has
12 brass plus drums. “Trained in the conservatory and hardened in the garage”,
this is the No BS! Brass Band.
“Haitian Fight Song”, No BS! Brass Band, Live recording, 2013
60. Fables of Faubus

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Figure 48: Miles Davis, Kind Of Blue, 1959. Disc cover

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Figure 49: Bill Evans, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, 1961. Disc cover

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It’s the fourth version of that song, I think, that I propose you to listen to.
Unfortunately, it might not be enough to kick those fascists out. Interpreted by
the 1995 Mingus Big Band, in their album Gunslinging Bird, this is “Fables of
Faubus”, in an arrangement by the alto saxophonist (and band member) Steve
Sagle, who also plays a chorus. (Trumpet chorus: Philip Harper.)
“Fables of Faubus”, Mingus Big Band, Gunslinging Bird, 1995
For more info about the context of that song, a link to the day 21 of this thread.
Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em shoot us!
Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em stab us!
Oh, Lord, don’t let ’em tar and feather us!
Oh, Lord, no more swastikas!
61. Invisible Lady
A bit of tenderness for tonight. Recorded in 1961, published in 1964 in his album
Tonight at Noon. Jimmy Knepper on trombone, Charles Mingus on piano.
“Invisible Lady”, Charles Mingus, Tonight at Noon, 1964
Peace to you all.
62. A Little Max (Parfait)
Tonight’s track is taken from a trio album of three leaders : Duke, Charles and
Max. The album’s name is Money Jungle, a pure gem, mostly consisting of
compositions of Ellington.
In this relatively unknown track, the three musicians share a relative equal part
of the cake. If you’ve ever wondered how a drummer can play a melody, just
open your ears.
“A Little Max (Parfait)”, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach,
Money Jungle, 1962
By the way, there are two quasi-covers of this album that certainly deserve to
be listened to : one is a solo recording by the pianist Aki Takase, the other is by
the drummer Terri Lyne Carrington with a full hard bop band!
63. Peggy’s Blue Skylight
Let’s listen to a modern version of “Peggy’s Blue Skylight”, a song that we had
listened to on day 44.
Joe Lovano assembled a large orchestra which is somewhat closer to a classical
orchestra than a traditional jazz big band, with strings, harp, french or english
horn. The arrangement is due to Gunther Schuller.
“Peggy’s Blue Skylight”, Joe Lovano, Rush Hour, 1995
64. Invisible Lady

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Figure 50: Aki Takase, My Ellington, 2013. Disc cover

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Figure 51: Terri Lyne Carrington, Money Jungle - Provocative in Blue, 2013

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Another version of “Invisible Lady” which we listened to 3 days ago. This version
has lyrics, written and sung by Elvis Costello, accompanied by the Mingus Big
Band.
I fell for the Invisible lady
I still sing the words of all of the songs that she gave me
The ribbon’s stretched tight
But every time that I start to type
The key won’t seem to strike.
“Invisible Lady”, Mingus Big Band, Tonight At Noon. . . Three Or Four Shades
Of Love, 2002
65. Pithecanthropus Erectus
One of the emblematic compositions of Charles Mingus, built on a few seemingly
simple movements, and yet so rich.
This version is the initial one, recorded in 1956 within Mingus’s Jazz Workshop.
Mal Waldron is on piano, Willie Jones on drums, Jackie McLean on alto sax,
J.R. Monterose on tenor sax, and Charles Mingus on bass.
“Pithecanthropus Erectus”, Mingus’s Jazz Workshop, Pithecanthropus Erectus,
1956
66. Fleurette Africaine
An Ellington composition, by the one-shot trio of Duke Ellington, Charles
Mingus, and Max Roach, from their album Money Jungle. Within a post-bop
album where the musicians impose a forceful presence, this track is kind of an
exception. A slow ballad; Max uses mallets, and his drumming is understated;
Mingus doesn’t play a bass line, but converses with the piano.
“Fleurette Africaine”, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, Money
Jungle, 1962
This is a simple but beautiful melody whose original arrangement inspired many
other ones. For more presence, you can go listen to Gary Burton, Larry Coryell,
Bob Moses and Steve Swallow, in their recording “Fleurette Africaine”, Gary
Burton Quartet, Lofty, 1968 or even Terri Lyne Carrington, in her project
Provocative in Blue, where she revisits the full album, incorporating more
modern influences: “Fleurette Africaine”, Terri Lyne Carrington, Money Jungle
- Provocative in Blue, 2013. In a slightly softer direction, listen to the quartet
of the pianist Laurent De Wilde. On drums, Lewis Nash stays faithful to the
understated approach of Roach, but the pianist shares part of the melody with
the trumpet of Eddie Henderson: “Fleurette Africaine”, Laurent De Wilde
Quartet, Colors of Manhattan, 2011.
67. Pithecanthropus Erectus.
A few days ago, we listened to Mingus’s original version. Today’s one is in-
terpreted by the quartet Dok Wallach. (Daniel Erdmann, tenor sax; Michael

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Thieke, saxophone/clarinet, Heinrich Köbberling, drums; Johannes Fink, bass).
Their version begins with a very free interpretation (especially on drums) with
an understated melody. At some point, the theme emerges to turn into a clarinet
chorus. Then a bass chorus, and the melody.
“Pithecanthropus Erectus”, Dok Wallach, Live in Lisbon, 2010
68. Pithecanthropus Erectus.
Yet another version of “Pithecanthropus Erectus”! Unfortunately, it does not
seem that the Mingus Big Band recorded any version, so I’ll have to resort to
another big band version. Sonando is a Seattle-based jazz band — For you
tonight, they offer you an afro cuban arrangement.
Viva Mingus!
“Pithecanthropus Erectus”, Sonando, Live recording, 2012
69. Orange was the color of her dress, then blue silk
Is there a stranger title than the one of this song?
“It’s about a talented composer who meets a girl that tries to ruin his life. She
doesn’t have anything to offer him but money, so she asks him to write a song
and dedicate it to her dress, which was orange. She knew that nothing rhymes
with ‘orange’.”
This rarely played song has a bluesy mood. It consists of several different sections
that allow for many changes in tempo, rhythm (from swing to latin), color. . .
and of course long and imaginative choruses.
Initially recorded as a piano solo (in 1963), this version was recorded 10 years
later at the Strata Gallery, in Detroit. (Bass – Charles Mingus; Drums – Roy
Brooks; Piano – Don Pullen; Tenor Saxophone – John Stubblefield; Trumpet –
Joe Gardner)
As noted in the Rolling Stone review, by Hank Shteamer, this is an unusual
lineup, which gives this version a different sound from the classic bands assembled
by Mingus.
70. Caravan
Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach play this famous tune by Juan
Tizol. There’s some irony since when both Mingus and Tizol were members of
Elington band, a fight between them led to the firing of the bassist, a story I
had already told you on day 2 of this 100-day celebration of Mingus’s music.
(Already invoking irony. . . )
Here is this trio version of Caravan by Duke, Charles and Max, from their
recording Money Jungle. (There are two parts in this theme, listen how Roach
accompanies both of them, the first one on toms only, and the second on the
ride cymbal and snare.)

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“Caravan”, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, Money Jungle, 1965
71. Orange was the color of her dress, then blue silk
With its multifaceted influences, from classical music to blues to free jazz, Min-
gus’s music allows to be reworked. Today’s version is sung by Julie Christensen,
with lyrics of her own.
Christensen and her musicians emphasize the blues aspect of that song, but
you’ll hear how well it works!
“Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Silk Dress”, Julie Christiensen,
Something Familiar, 2006
On AllMusic.com, Thom Jurek writes: “One of the tremendous surprises here
is her reading of Charles Mingus’‘Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then
Silk Blue.’ Led by Karen Hammack’s gorgeous piano playing, and the subtle,
in-the-pocket bassline of Mary Ann McSweeney, she finds the bluesy swing bump
right away and lets her voice swoop and swoon with just enough of an erotic
acknowledgement—like the jazz singer on the bandstand who can see it all and
sings to egg on the gentlemen toward the unattainable lady sitting alone at table
four—o bring the imperceptible hip twitch out of the tune.”
This is a truly beautiful interpretation. Moreover, since it is quite rare, it is
important to have it played and sung by women.
72. Orange was the color of her dress, then blue silk
Yet another hearing of that song. Today’s version is a big band one (that’s the
rule), but not a Mingus Big Band’s for it did not record it.
The arrangement is due to Gil Evans, and is reworked by the French pianist
and band leader Laurent Cugny for his Gil Evans Workshop. Recorded at Jazz
à Vienne in 2015, the soloists are Martin Guerpin on saxophone and Olivier
Laisney on trumpet.
“Orange was the color of her dress, then blue silk”, Laurent Cugny’s Gil Evans
Workshop, Live recording at Jazz à Vienne, 2015
73. Nobody Knows (The Bradley I know)
An uptempo (288 bpm) swing in homage to Bradley Cunningham, the owner of
the jazz club Bradley’s, based on a famous spiritual.
The song has ben first played in 1975, but this seems to be the only recording
that Mingus did, in March 1977. Two bass players are credited, Charles Mingus
and Ron Carter (and George Mraz for other tracks), but I can’t tell if the two
of them play.
“Nobody Knows (The Bradley I know)”, Charles Mingus, Three Or Four Shade
Of Blues, 1977

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There are 5 choruses: Sonny Fortune (alto saxophone), John Scofield (electric
guitar), Jack Walrath (trumpet), Philip Catherine (electric guitar), and Ricky
Ford (tenor saxophone). Bob Neloms is on piano and, as often, Dannie Richmond
is on drums.
74. Summertime
By a trio consisting of Charles Mingus on bass, Hampton Hawes on piano and
Danny Richmond on drums
As you’ll hear, it’s very distant from classic Gershwin interpretation, where the
heat of the summer prevents us from even talking.
It starts like an African dance, it goes on with an American dance, continues
with a drum solo, a bass solo made of a repeated rhythmic pattern, then with a
syncopated version of the theme, before the dancers progressively move away. . .
“Summertime”, Charles Mingus, Hampton Hawes, Dannie Richmond, 1957
75. Opus Four
“I am three” is a German trio, consisting of Silke Eberhard on saxophone,
Christian Marien on drums and Nikolaus Neuser in trumpet. In 2016, they
recorded a Mingus album with the explicit title : Mingus, Mingus, Mingus.
Faithful to the spirit of Mingus’s music, even to its sound, but with deliber-
ately freeer influences, in particular from the drums which hold a triple role:
rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic—it substitutes the bass! (The whole album is
remarkable!)
“Opus Four”, I am three, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, 2016
76. The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers
I don’t know why Mingus chose this title for a 1972 rearrangement of the tune
he had composed in 1965, already with a long title : “Once Upon a Time, There
Was a Holding Corporation Called Old America”.
Whatever you understand of this title, remember Mingus’s words: — “The title
is signifying. I was always signifying.”
This version by the “Big Band Charlie Mingus” was recorded in June 1988 at
the Théâtre de Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris. (Listen how the band plays
the melody below some choruses. . . )
The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers, Big Band Charlie
Mingus, Live at the Théâtre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, 1988
This band mixed prominent members of Mingus’s bands (Jaki Byard, John
Handy, Clifford Jordan) and young cats (Randy Brecker, Billy Hart, David
Murray. . . ). Reggie Workman is on bass. A few years later, in 1991, Sue Mingus,
Mingus’s window, would form the Mingus Big Band, with those cats and many
other jazz lions. . .

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 77. Once Upon a Time, There Was a Holding Corporation Called Old America
Two days ago, we were listening to “The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are
Some Jive Ass Slippers”, and I had written that it was a rearrangement of a
1965 song: “Once Upon a Time, There Was a Holding Corporation Called Old
America”.
So it is appropriate to listen to this earlier song, isn’t it? If you listen to a
few bars of the former one, you will immediately notice the shift of keys, but
otherwise, they’re pretty similar.
“Once Upon a Time, There Was a Holding Corporation Called Old America”,
Charles Mingus, At UCLA—Not Heard. . . Played in its entirety, 1965
On AllMusic.com, Jeff Tamarkin has some story about this 1965 concert, done
one week after a Monterey concert in which Mingus hadn’t been able to play all
the music that he had composed for an octet (himself on bass and piano, Charles
McPherson on sax, Dannie Richmond on drums, Julius Watkins on French Horn,
Hobart Dotson, Lonnie Hillyer and Jimmy Owens on Trumpet, and Howard
Johnson on Tuba).
This was work in progress, that Mingus himself labelled as Jazz Workshop, and
the full recording includes a lot of false starts that led Mingus to reduce his band
to a quartet for some tunes. However, the full octet is back for that version.
78. Stormy Weather
A 1960 recording by Charles Mingus and the Jazz Workshop.
Most of the track is a duet between Dolphy and Mingus. At some points, Ted
Curson adds a beautiful second voice to Dolphy’s free interpretation.
“Stormy weather”, Eric Dolphy and Charles Mingus, Mingus, 1960
A few years before, Mingus had recorded another version of “Stormy Weather”,
with bass, drums, cello, clarinet, saxophone and trumpet. It is beautiful as well,
we might listen it in a few days ;-)
79. Orange Was the Color of Her Dress Then Blue Silk
That should be our fourth version of that tune in this thread devoted to Mingus’s
music, on the occasion of the 100th birthday of this immense musician, composer,
band leader. . .
Today, we listen to a 2002 version by Jessica Williams (1948-2022). She was a
masterful jazz pianist and composer. As the house pianist of the San Francisco
Keystone Corner Jazz Club, she played with many of the greats, Philly Joe
Jones, Tony Williams, Stan Getz. . .
Here is her version of this tune of Charles Mingus.
“Orange Was the Color of Her Dress Then Blue Silk”, Jessica Williams, All
Alone, 2002

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Figure 52: The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus, 1956. Disc cover

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Well, she obviously was a great. . . Dave Brubeck even called her “one of the
greatest jazz pianists [he had] ever heard.”

Figure 53: Jessica Williams

This is taken from a solo album that Jessica Williams recorded in 2002 where
she plays standards, more modern tunes, and compositions of her.
If you wish to discover her work, NPR made several interviews of Jessica Williams:
Remembering jazz pianist and composer Jessica Williams, by Terry Gross or
Jessica Williams on Piano Jazz, with pianist and NPR host Marion McPartland.
“One holdover I did have from my classical training was that I always thought
there were specific ways to do things, right ways and wrong ways. And I
discovered that the only right way is the way that works best for you.”
80. Please Don’t Come Back From The Moon
One of the titles that Mingus would collect in his monumental “Epitaph”, here
is a version by the Mingus Big Band, recorded in 1995.
Please Don’t Come Back From The Moon, Mingus Big Band, Gunslinging Birds,
1995
When France is hit by a disastrous heat wave, special dedication to all of those
who believe that technology will save us from the nightmares of necroliberalism,

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this 1962 tune of Charles Mingus.
In his biographical book on Mingus, Krin Gabbard views such titles as an act of
poetry. But remember also what Mingus told Nat Hentoff (about “Remember
Rockefeller at Attica”): “I ought to give titles to my music that make people
think.”
These informations come from the following two books on Mingus and his music:
– Better Git it In Your Soul - An Interpretative Biography of Charles Mingus,
by Krin Gabbard
– Myself When I am Real. The life and music of Charles Mingus, by Gene
Santoro

Figure 54: Better Git it In Your Soul - An Interpretative Biography of Charles

Mingus, by Krin Gabbard. Book cover

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Figure 55: Myself When I am Real. The life and music of Charles Mingus, by
Gene Santoro. Book cover

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Colophon
This file stems out a series of Twitter threads, that was unthreaded day after
day from April, 22, 2022 on. You can also get it on Markdown or PDF formats.
There is also a YouTube playlist that collects all of these recordings.

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