Charles Mingus
Acting
Biography
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist, pianist, composer, and bandleader. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock.
Born: April 22, 1922
Place of Birth: Arizona, USA
Known For
Jazz
Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.
Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968
A close-up of bass player and composer Charlie Mingus as he and his five-year-old daughter await eviction by the City of New York.
Billie
‘Lady Day’ was one of the greatest jazz vocalists the world ever heard. In 1971, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Billie Holiday. Before her mysterious death in 1978, Lipnack Kuehl had taped over 200 hours of interviews. The tapes have never been heard. Now they form the basis of an atmospheric, multi-layered documentary that captures the many complex facets of a proud black woman, violent drug addict, loyal friend, vindictive lover and unforgettable singer of ‘God Bless The Child’, ‘Saddest Tale’ and the haunting ‘Strange Fruit’.
The Dick Cavett Show
The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.
All Night Long
Over the course of one eventful evening, the anniversary celebration of the musical and romantic partners Aurelius Rex and Delia Lane, a jealous, ambitious drummer, Johnny Cousin, attempts to tear the interracial couple apart.
Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog
Don McGlynn's uncompromising and soulful documentary look at the tumultuous life of musician and rebel Charles Mingus is fascinating stuff. Mingus said of himself "I am half black man, half yellow man, but I claim to be a Negro. I am Charles Mingus, the famed jazz musician--but not famed enough to make a living in America." His statement summed up the conflict that plagued this musical genius his entire life: volatility, pain, prescience, and raw rage roiled inside a complex man, composer, bass player, and trombonist who transcended labels and refused to be pigeonholed into a single musical style--and who did not achieve real fame until late in his career.
Mingus in Greenwich Village
Charles Mingus: Live at Montreux 1975
Charles Mingus was one of the greatest jazz bassists of all time, but most of all he was an innovative composer and a leader with a clear vision of what he wanted and where his music had to go. In 1975 he made his first appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, accompanied by musicians who had worked with him on the albums 'Changes One' and 'Changes Two', two milestones of music, from which the pieces performed in the show were taken. At the end of the concert, the band is joined by two special guests: the saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and Benny Bailey on trumpet.
Charles Mingus Quintet - Live in Berlin 1972
Joe Gardner, trumpet; Hamiet Bluiett, baritone sax & clarinet; John Foster, piano; Charles Mingus, bass; Roy Brooks, drums. Cat Anderson, trumpet, guest star on "Perdido". Philarmonie, Berlie, Germany, November 5, 1972.
Charles Mingus: Epitaph
Conductor Gunther Schuller leads 30 renowned musicians in this spectacular world-premiere performance of Charles Mingus's epic composition, "Epitaph," filmed at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on June 3, 1989. Clocking in at more than two hours long, the landmark piece was unearthed only after the jazz legend's death in 1979. The orchestra includes such musical luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Lew Soloff, Bobby Watson and Urbie Green.
Filmography
as contrebasse
as self
as himself
as Himself
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Himself
as Self - Guest
as Himself
as Self
as Himself - Bass