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{{Short description|American jazz musician (1922–1979)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Charles Mingus
| image           = Charles Mingus 1976 cropped.jpg
| caption         = Mingus in 1976
| birth_name      = Charles Mingus Jr.
| alias           = Charlie Mingus
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1922|4|22}}
| birth_place     = [[Nogales, Arizona]], U.S.
| death_date      = {{death date and age|1979|1|5|1922|4|22}}
| death_place     = [[Cuernavaca]], Mexico
| origin          = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| instrument      = {{hlist|Double bass|piano|vocals}}
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Jazz]]|[[hard bop]]|[[bebop]]|[[avant-garde jazz]]|[[post-bop]]|[[third stream]]|[[orchestral jazz]]}}
| occupation      = {{hlist|Musician|composer|bandleader}}
| years_active    = 1943–1979
| label           = {{hlist|[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]|[[Candid Records|Candid]]|[[Columbia Records|Columbia]]|[[Debut Records|Debut]]|[[Impulse!]]|[[Mercury Records|Mercury]]|[[United Artists Records|United Artists]]}}
| website         = {{URL|https://www.charlesmingus.com/}}
}}

'''Charles Mingus Jr.''' (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American [[jazz]] [[Double bass|upright bassist]], [[composer]], [[bandleader]], [[pianist]], and [[author]]. A major proponent of collective [[Musical improvisation|improvisation]], he is considered one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history,<ref name="Underdog">See the 1998 documentary ''Triumph of the Underdog''</ref> with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz greats such as [[Duke Ellington]], [[Charlie Parker]], [[Max Roach]], and [[Eric Dolphy]]. Mingus's work ranged from advanced [[bebop]] and [[avant-garde jazz]] with small and midsize [[jazz ensemble|ensembles]] to pioneering the [[post-bop]] style on seminal recordings like ''[[Pithecanthropus Erectus (album)|Pithecanthropus Erectus]]'' (1956) and ''[[Mingus Ah Um]]'' (1959) and [[progressive big band]] experiments such as ''[[The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady]]'' (1963).

Mingus's compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands [[Mingus Big Band]], [[Mingus Dynasty (band)|Mingus Dynasty]], and Mingus Orchestra to high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition.<ref>{{cite web |last=Barteldes |first=Ernest |title=Thirty Years On, The Music Remains Strong; Charles Mingus's legacy revisited at the Manhattan School of Music |url=http://nypress.com/thirty-years-on-the-music-remains-strong/ |url-status=dead |website=Nypress.com |date=18 February 2009 |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414132729/http://nypress.com/thirty-years-on-the-music-remains-strong/ |archive-date=14 April 2014}}</ref> In 1993, the [[Library of Congress]] acquired Mingus's collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what it called "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library's history".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rule |first=Sheila |date=1993-06-14 |title=Library of Congress Buys Charles Mingus Archive|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/14/arts/library-of-congress-buys-charles-mingus-archive.html |access-date=2023-02-13}}</ref>

==Biography==
===Early life and career===
Charles Mingus was born in [[Nogales, Arizona]]. His father, Charles Mingus Sr., was a sergeant in the [[U.S. Army]].<ref>Santoro, Gene. ''Myself When I am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus'' (Oxford University Press, 1994); {{ISBN|0-19-509733-5}}</ref> Mingus Jr. was largely raised in the [[Watts, Los Angeles|Watts]] area of Los Angeles.

Mingus's ethnic background was complex. His ancestry included German American, African American, and Native American heritage.<ref name="Santoro, 2000">Santoro, 2000</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Todd |title=I Know What I Know: The Music of Charles Mingus |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313082009 |page=5}}</ref><ref name=Horton/> His maternal grandfather was a Chinese British subject from [[Hong Kong]], and his maternal grandmother was an African American from the southern United States. Mingus was the great-great-great-grandson of his family's founding patriarch who, by most accounts, was a German immigrant.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} In Mingus's autobiography ''[[Beneath the Underdog]]'', his mother was described as "the daughter of an English/Chinese man and a South-American woman", and his father was the son "of a black farm worker and a Swedish woman". Charles Mingus Sr. claims to have been raised by his mother and her husband as a white person until he was fourteen, when his mother revealed to her family that the child's true father was a [[Slavery in the United States|black slave]], after which he had to run away from his family and live on his own. The autobiography does not confirm whether Charles Mingus Sr. or Mingus himself believed this story was true, or whether it was merely an embellished version of the Mingus family's lineage.<ref name="autogenerated1991">{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Todd S. |title=I know what I know: the music of Charles Mingus |date=2006 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0-275-98102-0 |location=Westport, Conn}}</ref> According to new information used to educate visitors to Mingus Mill in the [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]], included in signs unveiled May 23, 2023, the father of Mingus Sr. was former slave Daniel Mingus, owned by the family of his mother Clarinda Mingus, a white woman. When Clarinda married a white man, Mingus Sr. was left with his white grandfather and great-grandparents. His father, who later changed his name to West, apparently did not have a relationship with Mingus Sr.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2023/06/03/word-from-the-smokies-uncovering-the-origins-of-mingus-family-saga/70281040007/|title=Uncovering the origins of Mingus family saga|last=Searcy|first=Aaron|work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]]|date=3 June 2023}}</ref>

His mother allowed only church-related music in their home, but Mingus developed an early love for other music, especially that of [[Duke Ellington]]. He studied [[trombone]], and later [[cello]], although he was unable to follow the cello professionally because, at the time, it was nearly impossible for a black musician to make a career of classical music, and the cello was not accepted as a jazz instrument. Despite this, Mingus was still attached to the cello; as he studied bass with [[Red Callender]] in the late 1930s, Callender even commented that the cello was still Mingus's main instrument. In ''Beneath the Underdog'', Mingus states that he did not actually start learning bass until [[Buddy Collette]] accepted him into his swing band under the stipulation that he be the band's bass player.<ref name="autogenerated1991" />

Due to a poor education, the young Mingus could not read musical notation quickly enough to join the local youth orchestra. This had a serious impact on his early musical experiences, leaving him feeling ostracized from the classical music world. These early experiences, in addition to his lifelong confrontations with racism, were reflected in his music, which often focused on themes of racism, discrimination and (in)justice.<ref name=Horton>{{cite web |last=Horton |first=Ernest Aaron |title=Charles Mingus and the Paradoxical Aspects of Race as Reflected in His Life and Music |url=http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04072007-140228/unrestricted/ERonHortonDissertation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425062001/http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04072007-140228/unrestricted/ERonHortonDissertation.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-25 |url-status=live |publisher=Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh |date=2007 |access-date=11 October 2011}}</ref>

Much of the cello technique Mingus learned was applicable to [[double bass]] when he took up the instrument in high school. He studied for five years with Herman Reinshagen, principal bassist of the [[New York Philharmonic]], and compositional techniques with Lloyd Reese.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Mingus &#124; Charles "Baron" Mingus: West Coast, 1945–49 |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=7105 |website=Allaboutjazz.com |date=1 February 2001 |access-date=8 October 2009}}</ref> Throughout much of his career, he played a bass made in 1927 by the German maker [[Ernst Heinrich Roth]].

Mingus was already writing relatively advanced musical pieces in his teenage years; many are similar to [[Third Stream]] in that they incorporate elements of classical music. A number of pieces were recorded in 1960 with conductor [[Gunther Schuller]], and released as ''[[Pre-Bird]]'', referring to [[Charlie "Bird" Parker]]; Mingus was one of many musicians whose perspectives on music were altered by Parker into "pre- and post-Bird" eras.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Mingus gained a reputation as a bass prodigy. His first major professional job was playing with former Ellington clarinetist [[Barney Bigard]]. He toured with [[Louis Armstrong]] in 1943, and by early 1945 was recording in Los Angeles in a band led by [[Russell Jacquet]], which also included [[Teddy Edwards]], [[Maurice James Simon]], [[Wild Bill Davis]], and [[Chico Hamilton]], and in May that year, in Hollywood, again with Edwards, in a band led by [[Howard McGhee]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Jazz Discography Project |title=Charles Mingus Catalog |url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/charles-mingus/catalog |website=Jazzdisco.org |access-date=8 October 2009}}</ref>

He then played with [[Lionel Hampton]]'s band in the late 1940s; Hampton performed and recorded several Mingus pieces. A popular trio of Mingus, [[Red Norvo]], and [[Tal Farlow]] in 1950 and 1951 received considerable acclaim, but Mingus's race caused problems with some club owners and he left the group. Mingus was briefly a member of Ellington's band in 1953, as a substitute for bassist [[Wendell Marshall]]; however, Mingus's notorious temper led to his being one of the few musicians personally fired by Ellington ([[Bubber Miley]] and drummer [[Bobby Durham (jazz musician)|Bobby Durham]] are among the others) after a backstage fight between Mingus and [[Juan Tizol]].{{sfn|Hentoff|1978|pp=34-35}}

Also in the early 1950s, before attaining commercial recognition as a bandleader, Mingus played gigs with [[Charlie Parker]], whose compositions and improvisations greatly inspired and influenced him. Mingus considered Parker the greatest genius and innovator in jazz history, but he had a love-hate relationship with Parker's legacy. Mingus blamed the Parker mythology for a derivative crop of pretenders to Parker's throne. He was also conflicted and sometimes disgusted by Parker's self-destructive habits and the romanticized lure of drug addiction they offered to other jazz musicians. In response to the many sax players who imitated Parker, Mingus titled a song "If Charlie Parker Were a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats" (released on ''[[Mingus Dynasty]]'' as "Gunslinging Bird").<ref>{{cite web |title=Mingus Explains Song Titles|url=https://www.charlesmingus.com/mingus/mingus-explains-song-titles |website=Charles Mingus |access-date=12 January 2021}}</ref>

Mingus married four times. His wives were Jeanne Gross, Lucille (Celia) Germanis, Judy Starkey, and [[Sue Mingus|Susan Graham Ungaro]].<ref name="Santoro, 2000"/>

===Based in New York===
In 1952, Mingus co-founded [[Debut Records]] with [[Max Roach]] so he could conduct his recording career as he saw fit. The name originated from his desire to document unrecorded young musicians. Despite this, the best-known recording the company issued was of the most prominent figures in bebop. On May 15, 1953, Mingus joined [[Dizzy Gillespie]], Parker, [[Bud Powell]], and Roach for a concert at [[Massey Hall]] in Toronto, which is the [[Jazz at Massey Hall|last recorded documentation]] of Gillespie and Parker playing together. After the event, Mingus chose to overdub his barely audible bass part back in New York; the original version was issued later. The two 10" albums of the Massey Hall concert (one featured the trio of Powell, Mingus and Roach) were among Debut Records' earliest releases. Mingus may have objected to the way the major record companies treated musicians, but Gillespie once commented that he did not receive any royalties "for years and years" for his Massey Hall appearance. The records, however, are often regarded as among the finest live jazz recordings.

One story has it that Mingus was involved in a notorious incident while playing a 1955 club date billed as a "reunion" with Parker, Powell, and Roach. Powell, who suffered from alcoholism and mental illness (possibly exacerbated by a severe police beating and electroshock treatments), had to be helped from the stage, unable to play or speak coherently. As Powell's incapacitation became apparent, Parker stood in one spot at a microphone, chanting "Bud Powell&nbsp;... Bud Powell&nbsp;..." as if beseeching Powell's return. Allegedly, Parker continued this incantation for several minutes after Powell's departure, to his own amusement and Mingus's exasperation. Mingus took another microphone and announced to the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please don't associate me with any of this. This is not jazz. These are sick people."<ref name="auto"/> This was Parker's last public performance; about a week later he died after years of substance abuse.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Mingus often worked with a mid-sized ensemble (around 8–10 members) of rotating musicians known as the Jazz Workshop. Mingus broke new ground, constantly demanding that his musicians be able to explore and develop their perceptions on the spot.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Those who joined the Workshop (or Sweatshops as they were colorfully dubbed by the musicians) included [[Pepper Adams]], [[Jaki Byard]], [[Booker Ervin]], [[John Handy]], [[Jimmy Knepper]], [[Charles McPherson (musician)|Charles McPherson]], and [[Horace Parlan]]. Mingus shaped these musicians into a cohesive improvisational machine that in many ways anticipated [[free jazz]]. Some musicians dubbed the workshop a "university" for jazz.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

===''Pithecanthropus Erectus'' and other recordings===
The 1950s are generally regarded as Mingus's most productive and fertile period. Over a ten-year period, he made 30 records for a number of labels ([[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]], [[Candid Records|Candid]], [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], [[Impulse! Records|Impulse]] and others). Mingus had already recorded around ten albums as a bandleader, but 1956 was a breakthrough year for him, with the release of ''[[Pithecanthropus Erectus (album)|Pithecanthropus Erectus]]'', arguably his first major work as both a bandleader and composer.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} Like Ellington, Mingus wrote songs with specific musicians in mind, and his band for ''Erectus'' included adventurous musicians: piano player [[Mal Waldron]], alto saxophonist [[Jackie McLean]] and the [[Sonny Rollins]]-influenced tenor of [[J. R. Monterose]]. The title song is a ten-minute [[tone poem]], depicting the rise of man from his [[hominid]] roots (''[[Java Man|Pithecanthropus erectus]]'') to an eventual downfall. A section of the piece was [[free improvisation]], free of structure or theme.

Another album from this period, ''[[The Clown (album)|The Clown]]'' (1957, also on [[Atlantic Records]]), the title track of which features narration by humorist [[Jean Shepherd]], was the first to feature drummer [[Dannie Richmond]], who remained his preferred drummer until Mingus's death in 1979. The two men formed one of the most impressive and versatile [[rhythm section]]s in jazz. Both were accomplished performers seeking to stretch the boundaries of their music while staying true to its roots. When joined by pianist [[Jaki Byard]], they were dubbed "The Almighty Three".<ref>Monson, Ingrid. ''Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction''. University of Chicago Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-226-53478-2}}</ref>

===''Mingus Ah Um'' and other works===
In 1959, Mingus and his jazz workshop musicians recorded one of his best-known albums, ''[[Mingus Ah Um]]''. Even in a year of standout masterpieces, including [[Dave Brubeck]]'s ''[[Time Out (album)|Time Out]]'', [[Miles Davis]]'s ''[[Kind of Blue]]'', [[John Coltrane]]'s ''[[Giant Steps]]'', and [[Ornette Coleman]]'s ''[[The Shape of Jazz to Come]]'', this was a major achievement, featuring such classic Mingus compositions as "[[Goodbye Pork Pie Hat]]" (an elegy to [[Lester Young]]) and the vocal-less version of "Fables of Faubus" (a protest against segregationist Arkansas governor [[Orval Faubus]] that features double-time sections). In 2003 the album's legacy was cemented when it was inducted into the [[National Recording Registry]]. Also during 1959, Mingus recorded the album ''[[Blues & Roots]]'', which was released the following year. Mingus said in his liner notes: "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."

Mingus witnessed [[Ornette Coleman]]'s legendary—and controversial—1960 appearances at New York City's [[Five Spot]] jazz club. He initially expressed rather mixed feelings for Coleman's innovative music: "... if the free-form guys could play the same tune twice, then I would say they were playing something ... Most of the time they use their fingers on the saxophone and they don't even know what's going to come out. They're experimenting." That same year, however, Mingus formed a quartet with Richmond, trumpeter [[Ted Curson]] and multi-instrumentalist [[Eric Dolphy]]. This ensemble featured the same instruments as Coleman's quartet, and is often regarded as Mingus rising to the challenging new standard established by Coleman. The quartet recorded on both ''[[Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus]]'' and ''[[Mingus (Charles Mingus album)|Mingus]]''. The former also features the version of "[[Fables of Faubus]]" with lyrics, aptly titled "Original Faubus Fables".

In 1961, Mingus spent time staying at the house of his mother's sister (Louise) and her husband, [[Fess Williams]], a clarinetist and saxophonist, in Jamaica, Queens.<ref name="auto">Santoro, Gene. ''Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.</ref> Subsequently, Mingus invited Williams to play at the 1962 [[The Town Hall (New York City)|Town Hall]] Concert.<ref name=TrainWreck>{{cite news|title=Town Hall Train Wreck|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/town-hall-train-wreck/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127133102/https://www.villagevoice.com/town-hall-train-wreck/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 27, 2024|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|date=June 6, 2000|access-date=January 27, 2024}}</ref>

Only one misstep occurred in this era: ''[[The Complete Town Hall Concert|The Town Hall Concert]]'' in October 1962, a "live workshop"/recording session. With an ambitious program, the event was plagued with troubles from its inception.<ref name=TrainWreck /> Mingus's vision, now known as ''[[Epitaph (Charles Mingus composition)|Epitaph]]'', was finally realized by conductor [[Gunther Schuller]] in a concert in 1989, a decade after Mingus died.

Outside of music, Mingus published a mail-order how-to guide in 1954 called ''The Charles Mingus CAT-alog for Toilet Training Your Cat''. The guide explained in detail how to get a cat to use a human toilet.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program|url=https://www.charlesmingus.com/mingus/cat-traning-program |website=Charles Mingus |access-date=23 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Mingus toilet trained his cat. We put his method to the test. |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-05-17/charles-mingus-toilet-trained-his-cat-we-put-his-method-test |website=The World from PRX |date=May 16, 2018 |access-date=23 June 2021}}</ref> Sixty years later, in 2014, the late American character actor [[Reg E. Cathey]] performed a voice recording of the complete guide for ''[[Studio 360]]''.<ref>{{citation |title=Studio 360: Reg E. Cathey Reads The Charles Mingus CAT-alog for Toilet Training Your Cat | date=November 20, 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bkf9dFRpsQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/7Bkf9dFRpsQ| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=June 23, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===''The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady'' and other Impulse! albums===
In 1963, Mingus released ''[[The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady]]'', described as "one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history."<ref>Huey, Steve. [http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-black-saint-and-the-sinner-lady-r143918/review Review at ''AllMusic''.] Retrieved 5 December 2015.</ref> The album was also unique in that Mingus asked his psychotherapist, Dr. Edmund Pollock, to provide notes for the record.

Mingus also released ''[[Mingus Plays Piano]]'', an unaccompanied album featuring some fully improvised pieces, in 1963.

In addition, 1963 saw the release of ''[[Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus]]'', an album praised by critic [[Nat Hentoff]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Matt |date=2024-01-23 |title=Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus |url=https://www.everythingjazz.com/story/mingus-mingus-mingus-mingus-mingus/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Everything Jazz |publisher=[[Universal Music Group]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Ad for Mingus film, 1968.jpg|thumb|upright|Ad for Thomas Reichman's 1968 ''Mingus'' documentary.]]
In 1964, Mingus put together one of his best-known groups, a sextet including [[Dannie Richmond]], [[Jaki Byard]], [[Eric Dolphy]], trumpeter [[Johnny Coles]], and tenor saxophonist [[Clifford Jordan]]. The group was recorded frequently during its short existence. Mosaic Records has released a 7-CD set, ''Charles Mingus – The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964–65'', featuring concerts from Town Hall, Amsterdam, Monterey ’64, Monterey ’65, & Minneapolis).<ref>{{cite web|last=Records|first=Mosaic|date=2021-07-20|title=Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964–65 – Mosaic Records|url=https://www.mosaicrecords.com/charles-mingus-jazz-workshop-albums/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=Mosaic Records – Home for Jazz fans!|language=en-US}}</ref> Coles fell ill and left during a European tour. Dolphy stayed in Europe after the tour ended, and died suddenly in Berlin on June 28, 1964. 1964 was also the year that Mingus met his future wife, [[Sue Mingus|Sue Graham Ungaro]]. The couple were married in 1966 by [[Allen Ginsberg]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/iviews/smingus.htm |title=Jazz |website=AllAboutJazz.com |date=January 5, 1979 |access-date=October 8, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112073954/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/iviews/smingus.htm |archive-date=November 12, 2011}}</ref> Facing financial hardship, Mingus was evicted from his New York home in 1966.

===''Changes''===
Mingus's pace slowed somewhat in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1974, after his 1970 sextet with Charles McPherson, Eddie Preston and Bobby Jones disbanded, he formed a quintet with Richmond, pianist [[Don Pullen]], trumpeter [[Jack Walrath]] and saxophonist [[George Adams (musician)|George Adams]]. They recorded two well-received albums, ''[[Changes One (Mingus)|Changes One]]'' and ''[[Changes Two]]''. Mingus also played with [[Charles McPherson (musician)|Charles McPherson]] in many of his groups during this time. ''Cumbia and Jazz Fusion'' in 1976 sought to blend Colombian music (the "[[Cumbia]]" of the title) with more traditional jazz forms. In 1971, Mingus taught for a semester at the [[University at Buffalo, The State University of New York]] as the Slee Professor of Music.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spring semester of '71: Charles Mingus leaves his legacy at UB |url=https://www.ubspectrum.com/article/2016/11/charles-mingus-at-ub |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=UB Spectrum |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Later career and death===
By the mid-1970s, Mingus was feeling the effects of [[motor neuron disease]]. His once formidable bass technique declined until he could no longer play the instrument. He continued composing, however, and supervised a number of recordings before his death. At the time of his death, he was working with [[Joni Mitchell]] on an album eventually titled ''[[Mingus (Joni Mitchell album)|Mingus]]'', which included lyrics added by Mitchell to his compositions, including "[[Goodbye Pork Pie Hat]]". The album featured [[Wayne Shorter]], [[Herbie Hancock]], and bassist and composer, [[Jaco Pastorius]].

Mingus died on January 5, 1979, aged 56, in [[Cuernavaca]], [[Mexico]], where he had traveled for treatment and convalescence. His ashes were scattered in the [[Ganges River]].

== Musical style ==
[[File:Minugs 1976.jpg|thumb|Mingus in 1976 playing the [[double bass]]]]
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.

Mingus espoused [[collective improvisation]], similar to the old New Orleans jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, he looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. Many musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. He recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists, whom he utilized to assemble unconventional instrumental configurations. As a performer, Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, widely recognized as one of the instrument's most proficient players.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Because of his brilliant writing for midsize ensembles, and his catering to and emphasizing the strengths of the musicians in his groups, Mingus is often considered the heir of Duke Ellington, for whom he expressed great admiration and with whom he collaborated on the record ''[[Money Jungle]]''. [[Dizzy Gillespie]] had once said Mingus reminded him "of a young Duke", citing their shared "organizational genius".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/reviews/myself-when-i-am-real-life-and-music-charles-mingus|title=Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus, by Gene Santoro|author=Simpson, David |publisher=Jazz Institute of Chicago book review|access-date=25 March 2008|archive-date=7 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607201007/http://www.jazzinchicago.org/educates/journal/reviews/myself-when-i-am-real-life-and-music-charles-mingus|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Personality==
Mingus had a notoriously fiery temperament, which earned him the nickname "the Angry Man of Jazz". His refusal to compromise his musical integrity led to many onstage outbursts, which were directed at members of his band and the audience alike;<ref name="wynnkatz">{{citation |last1=Wynn |first1=Ron |author1-link=Ron Wynn |last2=Katz |first2=Mike |editor=Ron Wynn |others=M. Erlewine, V. Bogdanov |year=1994 |title=[[All Music Guide to Jazz]] |place=San Francisco |publisher=Miller Freeman |isbn=0-87930-308-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoj00wynn/page/461 461]}}</ref> in 1965, midway through a performance, he ordered half his band backstage to practice.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pareles|first=Jon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/23/arts/an-irrepressible-65-mingus-concert.html|title=An irrepressible '65 Mingus concert|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=23 September 1984|page=27|access-date=13 April 2025}}</ref> Noisy audiences were subject to expressions of ire. Mingus chastised one such with "[[Isaac Stern]] doesn't have to put up with this shit", and on another occasion ordered his band to read books instead of playing.<ref name="Carroll">{{cite web |last1=Carroll |first1=Christopher |title=Mingus: The Chaos and the Magic |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2013/02/12/mingus-chaos-magic/ |website=[[The New York Review of Books]]|access-date=22 February 2019 |date=12 February 2013}}</ref> Also in the 1960s, playing a gig at the [[Five Spot Café]] in New York City, Mingus reportedly destroyed a $20,000 bass in response to [[heckler]]s in the audience.<ref name="wynn">{{citation |last=Wynn |first=Ron |editor=Ron Wynn |editor-link=Ron Wynn |others=M. Erlewine, V. Bogdanov |year=1994 |title =[[All Music Guide to Jazz]] |chapter=Jazz Venues |location=San Francisco |publisher=Miller Freeman |isbn=0-87930-308-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoj00wynn/page/717 717]}}</ref>

Guitarist and singer [[Jackie Paris]] was a witness to Mingus's irascibility. Paris recalls his time in the Jazz Workshop: "He chased everybody off the stand except [drummer] [[Paul Motian]] and me... The three of us just wailed on the blues for about an hour and a half before he called the other cats back."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jackieparis.com/sizzles.htm |title=Paris When He Sizzles |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |author=[[Will Friedwald]]}}</ref>

On October 12, 1962, Mingus punched [[Jimmy Knepper]] in the mouth while the two men were working together at Mingus's apartment on a score for his upcoming concert at [[The Town Hall (New York City)|the Town Hall]] in New York, and Knepper refused to take on more work. Mingus's blow broke off a crowned tooth and its underlying stub.<ref name=TrainWreck /> According to Knepper, this ruined his [[embouchure]] and resulted in the permanent loss of the top octave of his range on the trombone – a significant handicap for any professional trombonist. This attack temporarily ended their working relationship, and Knepper was unable to perform at the concert. Charged with assault, Mingus appeared in court in January 1963 and was given a suspended sentence. Knepper did again work with Mingus in 1977 and played extensively with the [[Mingus Dynasty (band)|Mingus Dynasty]], formed after Mingus's death in 1979.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jimmy-knepper-548287.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903104348/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jimmy-knepper-548287.html|archive-date=3 September 2010 |title=Jimmy Knepper – Obituaries, News |author=Voce, Steve|author-link=Steve Voce|work=The Independent |date= 16 June 2003 |access-date=8 October 2009 |url-status=dead |location=London}}</ref>

In addition to bouts of ill temper, Mingus was prone to [[clinical depression]] and tended to have brief periods of extreme creative activity intermixed with fairly long stretches of greatly decreased output, such as the five-year period following the death of [[Eric Dolphy]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/argument-instruments-charles-mingus/|title=An Argument with Instruments: On Charles Mingus|last=Shatz|first=Adam|magazine=[[The Nation]]|access-date=October 11, 2018|archive-date=8 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708021644/https://www.thenation.com/article/argument-instruments-charles-mingus/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1966, Mingus was evicted from his apartment at 5 [[Great Jones Street]] in New York City for nonpayment of rent, captured in the 1968 [[documentary film]] ''[[Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968]]'', directed by Thomas Reichman. The film also features Mingus performing in clubs and in the apartment, firing a [[.410 bore]] [[shotgun]] indoors, composing at the piano, playing with and taking care of his young daughter Carolyn, and discussing love, art, politics, and the music school he had hoped to create.{{Citation needed|date = November 2022}}

==Legacy==
===The Mingus Big Band===
Charles Mingus's music is currently {{when?|date=January 2025}} being performed and reinterpreted by the [[Mingus Big Band]], which in October 2008 began playing every Monday at [[Jazz Standard (jazz club)|Jazz Standard]] in New York City, and often tours the rest of the U.S. and Europe. The Mingus Big Band, the Mingus Orchestra, and the [[Mingus Dynasty (band)|Mingus Dynasty]] band are managed by Jazz Workshop, Inc. and run by Mingus's widow, Sue Graham Mingus.

[[Elvis Costello]] has written lyrics for a few Mingus pieces. He had once sung lyrics for one piece, "Invisible Lady", backed by the Mingus Big Band on the album, ''Tonight at Noon: Three of Four Shades of Love''.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r584078|pure_url=yes}}|title= Tonight at Noon: Three of Four Shades of Love|work=Album overview on AllMusic}}</ref>

===''Epitaph''===
''[[Epitaph (Charles Mingus composition)|Epitaph]]'' is considered one of Charles Mingus's masterpieces.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Allen |date=2022-05-24 |title='Epitaph,' Mingus' Magnum Opus |url=https://downbeat.com/news/detail/epitaph-mingus-magnum-opus |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=[[DownBeat|Downbeat]] |language=en}}</ref> The composition is 4,235 [[bar (music)|measures]] long, requires two hours to perform, and is one of the longest jazz pieces ever written.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} ''Epitaph'' was only completely discovered by musicologist Andrew Homzy during the cataloging process after Mingus's death. With the help of a grant from the [[Ford Foundation]], the score and instrumental parts were copied, and the piece itself was premiered by a 30-piece orchestra, conducted by [[Gunther Schuller]]. This concert was produced by Mingus's widow, Sue Graham Mingus, at [[Alice Tully Hall]] on 3 June 1989, 10 years after Mingus's death. It was performed again at several concerts in 2007. The performance at [[Walt Disney Concert Hall]] is available on [[NPR]]. [[Hal Leonard]] published the complete score in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mingus |first=Charles |date=2025-04-09 |title=Epitaph (Complete – Full Score) |url=https://www.halleonard.com/product/7011489/epitaph-complete-full-score |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250409123950/https://www.halleonard.com/product/7011489/epitaph-complete-full-score |archive-date=2025-04-09 |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=Hal Leonard Online |language=en}}</ref>

===Autobiography===
Mingus wrote the sprawling, exaggerated, quasi-autobiography, ''[[Beneath the Underdog|Beneath the Underdog: His World as Composed by Mingus]]'',<ref name="autogenerated1991" /> throughout the 1960s, and it was published in 1971. Its "[[stream of consciousness]]" style covered several aspects of his life that had previously been off-record. In addition to his musical and intellectual proliferation, Mingus goes into great detail about his perhaps overstated sexual exploits. He claims to have had more than 31 affairs in the course of his life (including 26 prostitutes in one sitting). This does not include any of his five wives (he claims to have been married to two of them simultaneously). In addition, he asserts that he held a brief career as a [[pimp]]. This has never been confirmed.

Mingus's autobiography also serves as an insight into his psyche, as well as his attitudes about race and society.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ratliff |first=Ben |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E3D81339F93BA25752C0A96E958260 |title=JAZZ VIEW; Hearing Mingus Again, Seeing Him Anew |work=The New York Times |date=January 18, 1998 |access-date=October 8, 2009}}</ref> It includes accounts of abuse at the hands of his father from an early age, being bullied as a child, his removal from a white musician's union, and grappling with disapproval while married to white women and other examples of hardship and prejudice.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940521-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115022253/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940521-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 January 2009 |title=Jazz: Beneath the Underdog |magazine=Time |date=October 2, 1964 |access-date=8 October 2009}}</ref>

===Scholarly influence===
The work of Charles Mingus has also received attention in academia. The American scholar of religion and multidisciplinary artist [[Ashon Crawley]] writes in his book ''Blackpentecostal Breath: The Aesthetics of Possibility'' that Mingus's musicianship is an example of the power of music to blur the boundaries between the sacred and the profane. Discussing the song "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting", which Mingus was inspired to write by attending a [[Holiness Pentecostal]] church in Los Angeles, Crawley suggests that Mingus found the gatherings to be an "ongoing, deep, intense mode of study, a kind of study wherein the aesthetic forms created could not be severed from the intellectual practice because they were one and also, but not, the same", and sought to express this through his compositions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawley |first=Ashon T. |title=Blackpentecostal breath: the aesthetics of possibility |date=2017 |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8232-7455-0 |series=Commonalities |location=New York}}</ref> 

[[Gunther Schuller]] has suggested that Mingus should be ranked among the most important American composers, jazz or otherwise. In 1988, a grant from the [[National Endowment for the Arts]]<ref name="arts.endow.gov">{{Cite web |title=Mingus Lives: Sue Mingus Receives an NEA Grant to Preserve Charles Mingus's Legacy |url=http://arts.endow.gov/about/40th/mingus.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509130744/http://www.arts.endow.gov/about/40th/mingus.html |archive-date=2013-05-09 |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=[[National Endowment for the Arts]]}}</ref> made possible the cataloging of Mingus compositions, which were then donated to the Music Division of the [[New York Public Library]]<ref>{{cite book|url=http://catalog.nypl.org/record=b11250454|title=The Music of Charles Mingus|publisher=[[New York Public Library]]|year=1989|type=Research Catalog entry}}</ref> for public use. In 1993, [[The Library of Congress]] acquired Mingus's collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library's history".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mingus |first=Charles |date=2015 |title=Charles Mingus collection, 1925-2015 |url=https://findingaids.loc.gov/db/search/xq/searchMfer02.xq?_id=loc.music.eadmus.mu004009&_faSection=overview&_faSubsection=did&_dmdid= |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=[[Library of Congress]]|lccn=2004598900}}</ref> 

===Cover versions===
Considering the number of compositions that Charles Mingus wrote, his works have not been recorded as often as comparable jazz composers. The only Mingus tribute albums recorded during his lifetime were baritone saxophonist [[Pepper Adams]]'s album, ''[[Pepper Adams Plays the Compositions of Charlie Mingus]]'', in 1963, and [[Joni Mitchell]]'s album ''[[Mingus (Joni Mitchell album)|Mingus]]'', in 1979. Of all his works, his elegy for [[Lester Young]], "[[Goodbye Pork Pie Hat]]" (from ''[[Mingus Ah Um]]'') has probably had the most recordings.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}{{Weasel inline|date=June 2020}} The song has been covered by both jazz and non-jazz artists, such as [[Jeff Beck]], [[Andy Summers]], [[Eugene Chadbourne]], and [[Bert Jansch]] and [[John Renbourn]] with and without [[Pentangle (band)|Pentangle]]. [[Joni Mitchell]] sang a version with lyrics that she wrote for it.

[[Elvis Costello]] has recorded "Hora Decubitus" (from ''[[Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus]]'') on ''My Flame Burns Blue'' (2006). "Better Git It in Your Soul" was covered by [[Davey Graham]] on his album "Folk, Blues, and Beyond". Trumpeter Ron Miles performs a version of "Pithecanthropus Erectus" on his CD "Witness". New York Ska Jazz Ensemble has done a cover of Mingus's "Haitian Fight Song", as have the British folk rock group Pentangle and others. [[Hal Willner]]'s 1992 tribute album ''Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus'' ([[Columbia Records]]) contains idiosyncratic renditions of Mingus's works involving numerous popular musicians including [[Chuck D]], [[Keith Richards]], [[Henry Rollins]] and [[Dr. John]]. The Italian band [[Quintorigo]] recorded an entire album devoted to Mingus's music, titled ''Play Mingus''.

[[Gunther Schuller]]'s edition of Mingus's "Epitaph", which premiered at [[Lincoln Center]] in 1989, was subsequently released on Columbia/Sony Records.

One of the most elaborate tributes to Mingus came on September 29, 1969, at a festival honoring him. [[Duke Ellington]] performed ''The Clown'', with Ellington reading [[Jean Shepherd]]'s narration. It was long believed that no recording of this performance existed; however, one was discovered and premiered on July 11, 2013, by Dry River Jazz host [http://krwg.org/people/trevor-hodgkins Trevor Hodgkins] for NPR member station KRWG-FM with re-airings on July 13, 2013, and July 26, 2014.<ref name="Dry River Jazz">{{cite web |last=Hodgkins |first=Trevor |title=Dry River Jazz 07/26/2014 |url=http://composer.nprstations.org/widgets/v2/playlist/index.html?ucs=5182a3a6e1c8428d5e122298&prog_id=5182a3abe1c8428d5e1222a7&dateFilter=2014-07-26 |website=Composer.nprstations.org}}</ref> Mingus's elegy for Duke, "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love", was recorded by [[Kevin Mahogany]] on ''Double Rainbow'' (1993) and [[Anita Wardell]] on ''Why Do You Cry?'' (1995).

==Awards and honors==
* 1971: [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] (Music Composition).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Sy |author-link=Sy Johnson |last2=Mingus |first2=Charles |date=1978 |title=Charles Mingus oral history interview |url=https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/67802/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=Rutgers University Libraries |publisher=[[Rutgers University]] |doi=10.7282/t3-235b-c108}}</ref> Inducted in the [[DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=DownBeat Hall of Fame |url=https://downbeat.com/archives/detail/downbeat-hall-of-fame |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=[[DownBeat|Downbeat]]}}</ref> Awarded Slee Chair of Music at [[University of New York Buffalo]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles Mingus |url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/artists/m/ma-mn/charles-mingus/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=[[The Kennedy Center]] |language=en}}</ref>
* 1988: The National Endowment for the Arts provided grants for a Mingus nonprofit called "Let My Children Hear Music" which cataloged all of Mingus's works. The microfilms of these works were given to the Music Division of the New York Public Library where they are currently available for study.<ref name="arts.endow.gov" />
* 1993: The [[Library of Congress]] acquired Mingus's collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library's history".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D61738F937A25755C0A965958260|title=Library of Congress Buys Charles Mingus Archive|first=Sheila|last=Rule|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 14, 1993|access-date=November 3, 2018}}</ref>
* 1995: The [[United States Postal Service]] issued a stamp in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication 354 - African Americans on Stamps |url=https://about.usps.com/publications/pub354/welcome.htm |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=[[USPS]]}}</ref>
* 1997: Posthumously awarded the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Achievement Award |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=[[Grammy Awards]]}}</ref>
* 1999: Album ''[[Mingus Dynasty]]'' (1959) inducted in the [[List of Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients J–P|Grammy Hall of Fame]].<ref name="GRAMMYHoF">{{Cite web |title=Hall of Fame Artists |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241121095908/https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award |archive-date=2024-11-21 |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=[[Grammy Awards]]}}</ref>
* 2005: Inducted in the [[Jazz at Lincoln Center]], [[Nesuhi Ertegun]] Jazz Hall of Fame.
* 2013: Album ''[[Mingus Ah Um]]'' (1959) inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref name="GRAMMYHoF" />

==Discography==
{{main list|Charles Mingus discography}}
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
*''Strings and Keys'' (1953)
*''Miss Bliss'' (1953)
*''[[The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus|Jazzical Moods, Volume 1]]'' (1955)
*''[[The Jazz Experiments of Charlie Mingus|Jazzical Moods, Volume 2]]'' (1955)
*''[[Jazz Composers Workshop]]'' (1956)
*''[[Pithecanthropus Erectus (album)|Pithecanthropus Erectus]]'' (1956)
*''[[The Clown (album)|The Clown]]'' (1957)
*''[[Mingus Three]]'' (1957)
*''[[East Coasting]]'' (1957)
*''[[A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry]]'' (1959)
*''[[Mingus Ah Um]]'' (1959)
*''[[Blues & Roots]]'' (1960)
*''[[Mingus Dynasty]]'' (1960)
*''[[Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus]]'' (1960)
*''[[Pre-Bird]]'' (1961)
*''[[Newport Rebels]]'' (1961)
*''[[Mingus (Charles Mingus album)|Mingus]]'' (1961)
*''[[Tijuana Moods]]'' (1962)
*''[[Oh Yeah (Charles Mingus album)|Oh Yeah]]'' (1962)
*''[[The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady]]'' (1963)
*''[[Tonight at Noon]]'' (1964)
*''[[Mingus Plays Piano]]'' (1964)
*''[[Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus]]'' (1964)
*''[[Charles Mingus in Paris: The Complete America Session|Blue Bird]]'' (1971)
*''[[Pithycanthropus Erectus]]'' (1971)
*''[[Charles Mingus with Orchestra]]'' (1971)
*''[[Let My Children Hear Music]]'' (1972)
*''[[Mingus Moves]]'' (1974)
*''[[Changes One (Mingus)|Changes One]]'' (1975)
*''[[Changes Two]]'' (1975)
*''[[Three or Four Shades of Blues]]'' (1977)
*''[[His Final Work|Lionel Hampton Presents Charles Mingus]]'' (1977)
*''[[Cumbia & Jazz Fusion]]'' (1978)
*''[[Reincarnation of a Lovebird|Reincarnation Of A Love Bird]]'' (1988)
*''Mysterious Blues'' (1990)
*''[[Shadows (1959 film)|Shadows]]'' (2016)
{{div col end}}

==Filmography==
* 1959, Mingus contributed most of the music for [[John Cassavetes]]'s New York City film ''[[Shadows (1959 film)|Shadows]]''.
* 1961, Mingus appeared as a bassist and actor in the British film ''[[All Night Long (1961 film)|All Night Long]]''.
* 1968, Thomas Reichman directed the documentary ''[[Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968]]''.
* 1991, [[Ray Davies]] produced a documentary entitled ''Weird Nightmare''. It contains footage of Mingus and interviews with artists making [[Hal Willner]]'s tribute album of the same name, including [[Elvis Costello]], [[Charlie Watts]], [[Keith Richards]], and [[Vernon Reid]].
* 1998, ''[[Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog]]'' (78 minutes) a documentary film on Charles Mingus directed by Don McGlynn.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ql6psBtzFPgC |title=Mingus/Mingus: Two Memoirs |last2=Young |first2=Al |date=1991 |author-link2=Al Young (disambiguation) |publisher=[[Limelight Editions]] |isbn=0-87910-149-0 |access-date=2024-11-03 |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dyer |first=Geoff |title=But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz |title-link=But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz |publisher=[[Abacus Books|Abacus]] |isbn=978-0-349-11005-9 |edition=[New ed.], slightly different form, repr |location=London |publication-date=1998 |language=en |orig-date=1991}}
* {{cite book|last=Hentoff|first=Nat|author-link=Nat Hentoff|title=Jazz Is |publisher=W. H. Allen |year=1978}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Todd S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOXEEAAAQBAJ |title=I Know What I Know: The Music of Charles Mingus |last2=Johnson |first2=Syl |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing USA]] |isbn=978-0-313-08200-9 |location=Westport, Conn |publication-date=2006 |language=en |access-date=2024-11-03 |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Mingus |first1=Charles |title=Charles Mingus, more than a fake book |last2=Homzy |first2=Andrew |date=1991 |publisher=Jazz Workshop; Distributed by [[H. Leonard Pub. Corp]] |isbn=978-0-7935-0900-3 |location=New York, NY : Milwaukee, WI}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Mingus |first1=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SeRZHjWokcC&q=Charles+Mingus,+More+Than+a+Fake+Book |title=Mingus Speaks |last2=Goodman |first2=John |date=2013 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-27523-2 |language=en|via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mingus |first=Charles |title=Beneath the Underdog: His World as Composed by Mingus |title-link=Beneath the Underdog |date=1971 |publisher=[[Knopf]] |isbn=978-0-394-43622-7 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Priestley |first=Brian |title=Mingus, a critical biography |date=1982 |publisher=Quartet Books |isbn=978-0-7043-2275-2 |location=London; New York}}
*{{Cite book |last=Santoro |first=Gene |author-link=Gene Santoro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qdWqrp9z5isC |title=Myself When I am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus |date=2001-11-29 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-802578-8 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|auto=1|d=Q107432}}
{{Archival records|title=Charles Mingus Collection|location= [[Music Division, Library of Congress]]|description_URL=https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu004009}}
* {{Official website|https://www.charlesmingus.com/}}
* [http://www.gadflyonline.com/archive/April99/archive-mingus.html "Charles Mingus – A musician beyond category"] by [[Nat Hentoff]], ''[[Gadfly Online]]'' April 1999
* [http://www.legacy.com/ns/FullStory.aspx?StoryType=1&StoryID=20 "Charles Mingus: Requiem for the Underdog"] by [[Alan Goldsher]]
* {{IMDb name|0591323}}
* [https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/27/resources/4709 Howard Fischer collection of Charles Mingus correspondence and legal documents, 1959, 1965–1967] at [https://library.harvard.edu/collections/isham-memorial-library Isham Memorial Library, Harvard University]

{{Charles Mingus}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Jazz}}
{{Authority control}}

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