Myself When I Am Real : The Life and Music of Charles Mingus

charles Mingus Was One Of The Most Innovative Jazz Musicians Of The 20th Century, And Ranks With Ives And Ellington As One Of America's Greatest Composers. By Temperament, He Was A High-strung And Sensitive Romantic, A Towering Figure Whose Tempestuous Personal Life Found Powerfully Coherent Expression In The Ever-shifting Textures Of His Music. Now, Acclaimed Music Critic Gene Santoro Strips Away The Myths Shrouding Jazz's Angry Man, Revealing Mingus As More Complex Than Even His Lovers And Close Friends Knew. A Pioneering Bassist And Composer, Mingus Redefined Jazz's Terrain. He Penned Over 300 Works Spanning Gutbucket Gospel, Colombian Cumbias, Orchestral Tone Poems, Multimedia Performance, And Chamber Jazz. By The Time He Was 35, His Growing Body Of Music Won Increasing Attention As It Unfolded Into One Pioneering Musical Venture After Another, From Classical-meets-jazz Extended Pieces To Spoken-word And Dramatic Performances And Television And Movie Soundtracks. Though Critics And Musicians Debated His Musical Merits And His Personality, By The Late 1950s He Was Widely Recognized As A Major Jazz Star, A Bellwether Whose Combined Grasp Of Tradition And Feel For Change Poured His Inventive Creativity Into New Musical Outlets. But Mingus Got Headlines Less For His Art Than For His Volatile And Often Provocative Behavior, Which Drew Fans Who Wanted To Watch His Temper Suddenly Flare Onstage. Impromptu Outbursts And Speeches Formed An Integral Part Of His Long-running Jazz Workshop, Modeled Partly On Dramatic Models Like Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. Keeping Up With The Organized Chaos Of Mingus's Art Demanded Gymnastic Improvisational Skills And Openness From His Musicians-which Is Why Some Of Them Called It The Sweatshop. He Hired And Fired Musicians On The Bandstand, Attacked A Few Musicians Physically And Many More Verbally, Twice Threw Lionel Hampton's Drummer Off The Stage, And Routinely Harangued Chattering Audiences, Once Chasing A Table Of Inattentive Patrons Out Of The Five Spot With A Meat Cleaver. But The Musical And Mental Challenges This Volcanic Man Set His Bands Also Nurtured Deep Loyalties. Key Sidemen Stayed With Him For Years And Even Decades. In This Biography, Santoro Probes The Sore Spots In Mingus's Easily Wounded Nature That Helped Make Him So Explosive: His Bullying Father, His Interracial Background, His Vulnerability To Women And Distrust Of Men, His Views Of Political And Social Issues, His Overwhelming Need For Love And Acceptance. Of Black, White, And Asian Descent, Mingus Made Race A Central Issue In His Life As Well As A Crucial Aspect Of His Music, Becoming An Outspoken (and Often Misunderstood) Critic Of Racial Injustice. Santoro Gives Us A Vivid Portrait Of Mingus's Development, From The Racially Mixed Watts Where He Mingled With Artists And Writers As Well As Mobsters, Union Toughs, And Pimps To The Artistic Ferment Of Postwar Greenwich Village, Where He Absorbed And Extended The Radical Improvisation Flowing Through The Work Of Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollock, And Charlie Parker. Indeed, Unlike Most Jazz Biographers, Santoro Examines Mingus's Extra-musical Influences—from Orson Welles To Langston Hughes, Farwell Taylor, And Timothy Leary—and Illuminates His Achievement In The Broader Cultural Context It Demands. Written In A Lively, Novelistic Style, myself When I Am Rea l Draws On Dozens Of New Interviews And Previously Untapped Letters And Archival Materials To Explore The Intricate Connections Between This Extraordinary Man And The Extraordinary Music He Made. publishers Weekly santoro, Who Covers Music For New York's Daily News, Has Attempted Not Only To Capture The Complex, Contradictory Character Of Jazz Bassist And Composer Mingus, But Also To Assert His Music's Towering Significance In American Culture As A Whole. With Such An Ambitious Goal In Mind, It Is Hard To Understand Why He Dispenses With A Critical Approach To The Man And His Music In Favor Of Hagiography, Portraying Mingus As A Larger-than-life Genius Who Was Beyond Reproach. Misdeeds Often Attributed To Mingus, Whether They Be Numerous Betrayals Of Friends And Lovers Or An Alarming Tendency To Pull Knives On People, Are Explained Away As The Eccentricities Of An Artist. This Rambling Book Is Not Without Revealing Details About Mingus's Life, However. In The Watts Section Of Los Angeles, Where He Grew Up, Mingus, With His Light Complexion, Could Pass For Neither Black Nor White, Which, Santoro Argues, Cemented The Feeling Of Being An Outsider That Both Haunted And Drove The Musician For The Rest Of His Life. When Writing About Mingus's Actual Musicmaking, Santoro Is In His Element. He Does An Admirable Job Of Describing The Rough-and-tumble Atmosphere Of The Jazz Workshops. There Is Also An Abundance Of Anecdotes About Mingus's Legendary Onstage Hijinks, Including Smashing His Bass (he Did It Before Pete Townshend), Haranguing The Audience And Sitting Down To A Steak Dinner In The Middle Of A Performance. Yet Santoro Ultimately Fails To Marshal His Sources Into A Nuanced Portrait, Producing A Mythological Figure, Not The Man Himself. (july) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.| Charles Mingus was one of the most innovative jazz musicians of the 20th Century, and ranks with Ives and Ellington as one of America's greatest composers. By temperament, he was a high-strung and sensitive romantic, a towering figure whose tempestuous personal life found powerfully coherent expression in the ever-shifting textures of his music. Now, acclaimed music critic Gene Santoro strips away the myths shrouding "Jazz's Angry Man," revealing Mingus as more complex than even his lovers and close friends knew. A pioneering bassist and composer, Mingus redefined jazz's terrain. He penned over 300 works spanning gutbucket gospel, Colombian cumbias, orchestral tone poems, multimedia performance, and chamber jazz. By the time he was 35, his growing body of music won increasing attention as it unfolded into one pioneering musical venture after another, from classical-meets-jazz extended pieces to spoken-word and dramatic performances and television and movie soundtracks. Though critics and musicians debated his musical merits and his personality, by the late 1950s he was widely recognized as a major jazz star, a bellwether whose combined grasp of tradition and feel for change poured his inventive creativity into new musical outlets. But Mingus got headlines less for his art than for his volatile and often provocative behavior, which drew fans who wanted to watch his temper suddenly flare onstage. Impromptu outbursts and speeches formed an integral part of his long-running jazz workshop, modeled partly on dramatic models like Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre. Keeping up with the organized chaos of Mingus's art demanded gymnastic improvisational skills and openness from his musicians-which is why some of them called it "the Sweatshop." He hired and fired musicians on the bandstand, attacked a few musicians physically and many more verbally, twice threw Lionel Hampton's drummer off the stage, and routinely harangued chattering audiences, once chasing a table of inattentive patrons out of the FIVE SPOT with a meat cleaver. But the musical and mental challenges this volcanic man set his bands also nurtured deep loyalties. Key sidemen stayed with him for years and even decades. In this biography, Santoro probes the sore spots in Mingus's easily wounded nature that helped make him so his bullying father, his interracial background, his vulnerability to women and distrust of men, his views of political and social issues, his overwhelming need for love and acceptance. Of black, white, and Asian descent, Mingus made race a central issue in his life as well as a crucial aspect of his music, becoming an outspoken (and often misunderstood) critic of racial injustice. Santoro gives us a vivid portrait of Mingus's development, from the racially mixed Watts where he mingled with artists and writers as well as mobsters, union toughs, and pimps to the artistic ferment of postwar Greenwich Village, where he absorbed and extended the radical improvisation flowing through the work of Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollock, and Charlie Parker. Indeed, unlike Most jazz biographers, Santoro examines Mingus's extra-musical influences--from Orson Welles to Langston Hughes, Farwell Taylor, and Timothy Leary--and illuminates his achievement in the broader cultural context it demands. Written in a lively, novelistic style, Myself When I Am Rea l draws on dozens of new interviews and previously untapped letters and archival materials to explore the intricate connections between this extraordinary man and the extraordinary music he made. "Charles Mingus was one of the most innovative jazz musicians of the twentieth century and ranks with Ives and Ellington as one of America's greatest composers." "Myself When I Am Real draws on dozens of new interviews and previously overlooked archival materials to highlight the intricate connections between this man and his music. A pioneering bassist and composer, Mingus penned over 300 works spanning gut-bucket gospel, Colombian cumbias, orchestral tone poems, multimedia performance, and chamber jazz. Although early critics and musicians debated his musical merits and his personality, by the late 1950s he was widely recognized as a major jazz star. But Mingus got headlines less for his art than for his volatile and often provocative behavior, which drew fans who wanted to watch his temper suddenly flare onstage. Santoro probes the sore spots in Mingus's easily wounded nature that made him so explosive: his bullying father, his interracial background, his vulnerability to women and distrust of men, his views of political and social issues, and his overwhelming need for love and acceptance. He also traces Mingus's musical development, from racially mixed Watts, where he mingled with artists and writers as well as mobsters, union toughs, and pimps, to postwar Greenwich Village, where he absorbed and extended the radical improvisation of Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Pollock, and Charlie Parker."--Jacket Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Introduction......Page 14 Prologue: Better Get It in Your Soul......Page 20 1 Growing Up Absurd......Page 24 2 Black Like Me......Page 36 3 Making the Scene......Page 44 4 Life During Wartime......Page 58 5 Portrait of the Artist......Page 76 6 The Big Apple, or On the Road......Page 114 7 Pithecanthropus Erectus......Page 148 8 Mingus Dynasty......Page 176 9 Camelot......Page 204 10 The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady......Page 236 11 One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest......Page 270 12 Beneath the Underdog......Page 304 13 Let My Children Hear Music......Page 324 14 Changes......Page 352 15 Don't Be Afraid, the Clown's Afraid, Too......Page 380 Notes......Page 412 Bibliography......Page 418 Discography......Page 428 Acknowledgments......Page 452 A......Page 456 B......Page 457 C......Page 459 D......Page 461 E......Page 462 G......Page 463 H......Page 464 I......Page 465 J......Page 466 L......Page 467 M......Page 468 O......Page 472 P......Page 473 R......Page 474 S......Page 476 U......Page 477 W......Page 478 Z......Page 479 A Pioneering Bassist And Composer, Mingus Penned Over 300 Works Spanning Gut-buckt Gospel, Colombian Cumbias, Orchestral Tone Poems, Multimedia Performance, And Chamber Jazz.--jacket. 1. Growing Up Absurd -- 2. Black Like Me -- 3. Making The Scene -- 4. Life During Wartime -- 5. Portrait Of The Artist -- 6. The Big Apple, Or On The Road -- 7. Pithecanthropus Erectus -- 8. Mingus Dynasty -- 9. Camelot -- 10. The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady -- 11. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest -- 12. Beneath The Underdog -- 13. Let My Children Hear Music -- 14. Changes -- 15. Don't Be Afraid, The Clown's Afraid, Too. Gene Santoro. Includes Bibliographical References, Videography, Filmography, Discography And Index. Charles Mingus was one of the most innovative jazz musicians of the 20th century, and ranks with Charles Ives and Duke Ellington as one of America's greatest composers. By temperament, he was a high-strung and sensitive romantic, a towering figure whose tempestuous personal life found powerfully coherent expression in the ever-shifting textures of his music. Now, acclaimed music critic Gene Santoro strips away the myths shrouding Jazz's Angry Man, revealing Mingus as more complex than even his close friends knew. Written in a lively, novelistic style, Myself When I Am Real draws on dozens of n THE BABY, barely three months old and pudgy but with bright eyes and an inquiring air, was the center of attention as he fussed on the hot train.