Left us on this day (Jan. 5) in 1979: universally respected composer, bandleader & pioneering jazz double-bassist Charles Mingus (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, age 56); he knew few equals, with many of his compositions considered too difficult to tackle by even the best of players; early on, he played with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie; conversely, many musicians passed through his bands & later went on to impressive careers; nearly as well known as his ambitious music was his often fearsome temperament, which earned him the nickname The Angry Man of Jazz; his refusal to compromise on musical integrity led to many on-stage eruptions; considered to be one of his masterpieces, Epitaph is 4,235 measures long, requires two hours to perform, & is one of the longest jazz pieces ever composed; written throughout the 60s in a stream of consciousness style, Charles published the quasi-autobiography Beneath the Underdog: His World as composed by Mingus in 1971; he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1971 & was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997...
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 22:13:17 +0000
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