The Epic of Black Music
Charles Mingus would have been 100 years old
Charles Mingus in 1960. © Bettmann Archive - Bettmann
By: Joe Farmer Follow
3 mins
Born on April 22, 1922, the American double bassist and conductor Charles Mingus was a rebel, an angry man who, through his works, defied the established order at a time when protest was a perilous audacity.
2022 marks the centenary of this rebellious man whose free spirit inspired many of his disciples and heirs.
After his death in 1979, Sue Mingus took up the torch and continued tirelessly to defend the honor of her late husband.
She often spoke on the airwaves and her testimony, found in our archives, still strongly validates the artistic and civic commitment of an indomitable maestro.
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The vehement personality of Charles Mingus has often overshadowed the heritage significance of his repertoire.
In addition to his many collaborations with the great figures of yesteryear, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, his compositions have often illustrated his experience and that of his contemporaries.
It was at the dawn of the 1960s that his creative genius began to arouse the interest of the jazz world and, sometimes, the ire of his detractors.
Long before the civil rights movement shook up American society, Charles Mingus was already a whistleblower who protested against the abuses and abuses of the American authorities against the African-American community.
In 1959, he released three successive albums including the famous
Mingus Ah Um
which will become one of his most famous discographic achievements.
Susan Mingus, the widow of Charles Mingus, in Amsterdam, in 1987. Redferns - Frans Schellekens
In this historic record, he denounces the insane choices of the governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus.
This politician, a supporter of segregation, chose in 1957 to defy the federal laws passed three years earlier by prohibiting the entry into high school of nine black teenagers from the town of Little Rock.
It will take the intervention of the 101st Airborne Division on the orders of President Eisenhower for the racist governor to comply with the injunctions issued by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Charles Mingus will compose
Fables of Faubus
(
Les fables de Faubus
) in reaction to this not very glorious episode in American history.
The Mingus Ah Um
Album
was however not only a rant against intolerance and injustice, it also honored the heroes of jazz who inspired the double bass player and conductor.
No less than four major virtuosos, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Lester Young, were the subject of a strong musical bow.
Nine black students escorted by the 101st Airborne Division on the orders of President Eisenhower, in Little Rock, 1957. Bettmann Archive - Bettmann
Until the last moments of his tumultuous destiny, Charles Mingus sought to remain a free man whose artistic choices and outspokenness could, of course, upset his interlocutors, but signified his independence of mind and his demanding insubordination.
On June 18, 1978, the very democratic American president, Jimmy Carter, organized a swinging jazz afternoon at the White House in the presence of Lionel Hampton Dizzy Gillespie, Mary Lou Williams, Eubie Blake, producer John Hammond and… Charles Mingus, very moved by this invitation which finally crowns an entire life dedicated to the recognition of black culture.
Six months later, Charles Mingus will disappear at the age of 56, carried away by the disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Charles Mingus at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1971. Boston Globe via Getty Images - Boston Globe
His music and his statements changed the social status of African-Americans during the 20th century.
His incessant fight against discrimination and his irreverent musicality nourish our understanding of a troubled era whose nauseous smells still today mistreat hopes for peace and unity on an international scale.
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Charles Mingus website
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