Mingus Amungus keeps the jazz great's wild tendencies alive
There are few dead jazz players who have managed to transcend the obscurity that comes with dedicating one's life to an art form that will never command a pop audience. Those who have crossed over — Miles Davis, John Coltrane,…
by Sam Prestianni July 28, 2010 Tags: Music, Feature, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Yoshi's Jazz Club & Japanese Restaurant, Yoshi's San Francisco
Music, Hear This
Show preview: Kronos Quartet
For more than three decades, Kronos Quartet has blown through musical borders with an appetite for innovation rarely found in any genre, let alone the often-traditional-leaning, classical-string-group milieu. After original cellist Joan Jeanrenaud left in 1999, the combo spiced up…
by Sam Prestianni June 16, 2010 Tags: Hear This, Show Preview, Asia (Band), Kronos Quartet, Joan Jeanrenaud, Charles Mingus, Yoshi's Jazz Club & Japanese Restaurant, Yoshi's San Francisco
Music, Reviewed
Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra
Jazz bassist Marcus Shelby is a composer, bandleader, and Bay Area educator. He combines these talents on the magnum opus Harriet Tubman, a two-CD orchestral tribute to the iconic African-American nurse, Civil War spy, and antislavery activist. While such a…
by Mark Keresman May 14, 2008 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Shelby, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington
Noted jazz pianist records pop icon tribute, endures cries of 'sellout' from the jazz community, laughs all the way to the bank. You'd be forgiven for assuming Herbie Hancock's new River: The Joni Letters, a tribute to Joni Mitchell, fits…
by Ezra Gale November 7, 2007 Tags: Reviewed, CD Review, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter
Culture, Stagecap
The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Here's a challenging American opera that embodies the mercurial spirit of a challenging American. Life and Times offers a moving depiction of one man's journey from the nihilistic doubt of a hustler to the galvanizing faith of a leader. Composer…
by Frank Wortham June 7, 2006 Tags: Stagecap, Columns, Anthony Davis, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, Oakland
Ace of Bass
For some people, the list of groundbreaking jazz bassists begins and ends with Charles Mingus, who passed away in 1979. Perhaps it's Mingus' sheer charisma as much as the music itself; he was as known for womanizing, fisticuffs, and the…
by David Cook October 30, 2002 Tags: Music, Music Awards, Lisle Ellis, Glenn Spearman, Charles Mingus, Larry Ochs
In San Francisco, where there are seemingly as many polite dinner-jazz acts as there are trendy new restaurants, Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra stands out like a red balloon in a white poppy field. With its full-on bursts of sonic…
by Ezra Gale April 18, 2001 Tags: Hear This, Critics' Picks, Adam Lane, Charles Mingus, San Francisco, Throttle Orchestra
Most so-called "jazz repertory acts" are little more than poser cover bands. Sure, they may try to keep memories alive, carry on the tradition, and teach the children well, but their sterile emphasis on authenticity tends to reduce the once-vibrant…
by Sam Prestianni February 28, 2001 Tags: Hear This, Critics' Picks, Charles Mingus, Mingus Big Band, East Village (Manhattan), New York City
Culture, Stage
The first thing you think when you see Reginald Ray Savage is, "Here is one bad-ass man." Slouching outside a downtown cafe on an overcast day, he sports dark sunglasses and a white dress shirt opened to midchest, the unfurled…
by Rachel Howard June 28, 2000 Tags: Stage, Stage, Reginald Ray Savage, SJDC, Berkeley, Charles Mingus
Adam Lane's Full Throttle OrchestraEverything (and nothing) about Adam Lane's debut album Hollywood Wedding evokes the spirit of composer/bassist Charles Mingus. From the super-tight, soulful swing of "Dedicated (a version for Fred Hopkins)" to the Ellingtonian rainbow shower of "Blues…
by Sam Prestianni March 15, 2000 Tags: Hear This, Critics' Picks, Adam Lane, Charles Mingus, Hollywood, Throttle Orchestra Yoshi
Various Artists Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era, Volume 1 (Rhino) Despite having sunk deeper than the Atlantean groves often depicted in its album art, progressive rock still has its apologists. Liner notes for Supernatural Fairy Tales, an impressively…
by Michael Batty, Sam Prestianni, and Sarah Vowell September 18, 1996 Tags: Music, Jon Jang, Louvin Brothers, David Murray, Charles Mingus