,
4747.
GALAeoni
BIRTHD Y CELEBRA­
no
.orld Pr mir
of C
rtes
.ingu
WASHINGrO ,D.C. - Nation­
al Public Radio's popular jazz
program American Jazz Radio
Festival pre ent the world
r dio premire of Epitaph" - a
recently discovered 30 year-old
ork by the 1 te jazz composer
Charle Mingus.
Mingu prophetically aid
upon the completion of the
wor in 1960, "I wrote it for my
tombstone."
In October, ational Public
Radio air this 19 part, two hour
compositoion in it historic
June 5,1989, Wolf Trap perfor­
mance in Washington, D.e.,
commemorating the 10th an­
niversary of Mingus' death.
(Check listings for local broad­
casting toimes.)
One of the most import nt
figure in 20th century jazz,
Mingus was virtuoso �ouble
ba s player, accomph hed
pian' t, . ndles der, a�d. com­
poser. Gro 'New Dictionary
of J azz says of Mingu , "His ac­
complishmints surpa in hi -
toric and tylistic breadth tho
of any other major figure in
jazz," At the hei�t of � ou.t­
standing career, Mangus died 10
Mexico on January 5, 1979, at
the age of 56.
It a not until 1988 that
. mu icologist Andrew Homzy
discovered the score for
"Epitaph" in an old box stored at
t home of Mingus' widow,
Sue Graham Mingus.
A challenging and thought
provoking composition,
"Epitaph" comprises collec­
tio of ballads, earthy blues,
go pel sections, and more
ab tract movement such as
"The Children's Hour of
Dream," "Wolverine Blues: and
OVERBROOK
. GALLERY
Robert . Pactc ',:.
I By The Super
g '(' i open for public
v Ing t rough Oct. 31 at
Mu,kegon Community
Col ege" Overbrook Gal ery
betw.ltn 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
ICH.
0234 .:
"Epitap
II
Peggy's Blue kylight."
·Epitaph" is performed by a
30 piece all-star orche tra, led
by comp er-conductor e -
tr ordin ir Gunther chu I r.
The orchestr including
saxaphonists John Handy,
Georg Adam, nd Jerome
Richardson: mpeters Wyn­
ton Mar alis and Randy Brec -
er; and pi nist Sir Rol nd
H nna, mong m ny 0 hers.
Th or is a fitting tribute
to Mingus, who w born on a
military base in og Ie ,
Arizo in 1922, nd rai in
Watts, California. His earli t
musical influences from
the church, d th m . of
Duke Ellington. .
Mingu began formal music
training with trombon nd
cello 1 ODS. At the age 15,
Mingus tr ded . cello for the
tring bass, which would be­
come his instrument for the r t
of his life.' .
Mingus' professional career
began in 1940 when he joined
drummer Lee Young's band,
and later performed with grea
uch Louis Arm rtong,
Lionel Hampton, Charlie
P rker, Bud Powell, Art Tatum,
and Duke Ellington.
As he traveled throughout
the United t tes, outh
Ameri Jap n, d Europe,
Mingus wrotc compostions
such as "Tijuan Moods: "The
Clown:"MingusDyn ty:"The
Blac S int and the Sinner
Lady: "and "Le My �hildren
Hear The Music," which g ve
him world recognition a a
ere or nd leader in jazz, ad­
ding to hi international reputa­
tion a lop jazz b '.
I
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