News & Updates — Charles Mingus

Yes, I know it's the birthday today of a more famous pianist, Bill Evans, but I want to highlight Mal Waldron because I like his music better (it's just a matter of personal taste, pal) and I feel that he is underrated, despite a much-longer career than Evans. Born to West Indian parents in NYC, Mal grew up in Jamaica, Queens and took piano lessons before also playing alto sax in bands as a teenager. In the '40s he was witness to the bebop explosion and after college switched permanently to piano. Turning pro in '50, he cut first record...

Has anybody ever said a bad thing about Eric Dolphy? One of the most respected jazz artists, even if he is not exactly a household name to casual jazz fans, any serious jazz head loves him, as well as every single musician that ever came into contact with him. He was known to give his last dollar to struggling musicians in gestures of kindness and compassion. He even gave so much to the groups he worked in that his own career as a leader was woefully brief. He was an amazing composer, improviser, alto saxophonist, flautist and pioneered the use...

Massachusetts native Jaki Byard brought a wide range of styles and a dose of good fun into his piano playing. Also a saxophonist (often at the same time as piano!), he worked with Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Art Blakey, Roland Kirk, Sam Rivers, Charlie Mariano, Quincy Jones (on the groovy Smackwater Jack), Booker Ervin, Elvin Jones and others, including a duet record with Earl Hines. He even filled in for Duke Ellington at times when the leader was ill! He had been an educator in colleges since the late '60s and continued to record and tour around the world. Disturbingly,...

Charles Mingus, along with Israel "Cachao" Lopez and William Parker, are my favorite bassists of all time. Add that Mingus is one of the greatest composers to ever walk the planet and his notoriously prickly personality and you have a genuine one-of-a-kind icon of insane genius. Deeply bluesy, gospel-inspired, funky and experimental, his music brought "jazz" to a whole 'nother level. As with Duke Ellington, he wrote compositions for specific players in mind, while engaging every member of the band. His music was also deeply politicized. Coming from Watts, he grew up poor but still learned the cello. He started...

The original hippy, the mystical eden ahbez wrote a tune called "Nature Boy" and by chance was able to hand it to Nat King Cole who turned it into a mega-hit in 1948. He looked like a hippy long before it was a thing and lived outdoors in Los Angeles. He lived under the "L" of the Hollywood sign and held a job as a piano player in a raw foods store. He was a vegetarian, straight edge and an anti-vaxer and wore a white robe. This lifestyle inspired "Nature Boy", and after the hit by Cole, ahbez became an...