Retro Chicken

There is no question that Charles Mingus was one of the most important musicians of the late 50s/early 60s. Beside from being a virtuoso bass player (his sideman gigs throughout the 40s and 50s is a virtual whose-who of jazz), he was an inspired, innovative and ingenious composer – often hailed as the continuation of the Jellyroll Morton-Duke Ellington legacy. He fused earthy blues roots with twentieth century classical ideas and formed a bridge between the world of straight-ahead jazz and the free jazz movement.

The great Eric Dolphy (on alto in this video clip) toured extensively with Mingus (as well as with John Coltrane and as a solo artist). While this clip is old (filmed with crusty technology) and doesn’t show off Mingus, it does give a great taste of the absolutely wild forays into the stratosphere that were Eric Dolphy’s signature style.

For a wild (if raunchy) read, and a fascinating glimpse into the mind of Mingus, check out his classic memoir – Beneath the Underdog. (I don’t know how much of it is true - whatever is true, is wild, whatever is not - makes great fiction.)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Mingus, Jazz Chicken.