Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr.was an American jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader. His compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop, drawing heavily from black gospel music and blues, while sometimes containing elements of Third Stream, free jazz, and classical music. He once cited Duke Ellington and church as his main influences...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBassist
Date of Birth22 April 1922
CityNogales, AZ
CountryUnited States of America
Charles Mingus quotes about
Jazz music is a language of the emotions.
Let my children have music! Let them hear live music.
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; ...
I always thought that no matter what kind of work people did, they should involve themselves totally with all the discrimination they ran into.
It (jazz) isn't like it used to be. The guys aren't together. They're all separated. Individuals now. Bird was a symbol. It was a clique, a clique of people. Who all believed in one thing: gettin' high. And playin'.
Most of the soloists at Birdland had to wait for Parker's next record in order to find out what to play next. What will they do now?
Most customers, by the time the musicians reach the second set, are to some extent inebriated. They don't care what you play anyway.
Tastes are created by the business interests. How else can you explain the popularity of Al Hirt?
I've got a feeling that, if it's so easy for you, the struggle and the initiative are not as strong as they are for a person who has to struggle and therefore has more to say.
Just because I'm playing Jazz I don't forget about me. I play or write me the way I feel through Jazz.
Anybody can make the simple complecated. Creativity is making the complecated simple.
I always wanted to be a spontaneous composer.
I was born swinging and clapped my hands in church as a little boy, but I've grown up and I like to do things other than just swing. But blues can do more than just swing.
I'm too busy playing. When I'm playing I don't pay attention to who's listening. When I was listening I listened to symphony orchestras, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Stravinsky. You don't listen to one instrument; you listen to music.