Charles Mingus Revisited

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:00:08. > :00:13.Charlie Mingus's music is a great combination between bombastic and

:00:14. > :00:18.beta. Blue whatever it plays, it has a feeling of tension, like it's

:00:19. > :00:24.about to explode. It's always blues. If you don't know what that means

:00:25. > :00:25.then check out Charlie Mingus. He's one of the baddest musicians to ever

:00:26. > :01:07.lived. He's the King Mingus. Charles Mingus's work as a bass

:01:08. > :01:12.player and as a composer, in many ways the two things merged into one.

:01:13. > :01:19.They are both attached to his soul directly. Charles Mingus is where

:01:20. > :01:29.chaos and beauty meet, and that place is a wonderful place, and a

:01:30. > :01:33.tragic place. Over three decades he recorded 100 albums and worked with

:01:34. > :01:39.everybody from Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis. Duke

:01:40. > :01:44.Ellington was one of his biggest inspirations. For me that's huge. I

:01:45. > :01:51.like Mingus because of that, that's all I need to hear! He was a

:01:52. > :01:59.virtuosic bass player, he had unbelievable feel. This was a guy in

:02:00. > :02:04.Charlie Parker's band. He played on the cutting edge. Every corner of

:02:05. > :02:10.this music that you could exist in, Charles Mingus existed in. I think

:02:11. > :02:14.what stands Mingus apart from a lot of his contemporaries is summed up

:02:15. > :02:19.by blues and roots. I think it's the rates element for me which is what

:02:20. > :02:25.resonates the most. It's this freight train of an approach to

:02:26. > :02:34.mesmeric baselines, that you just don't forget. All his music, there a

:02:35. > :02:39.melodic line through it that allows even a casual listener to just be

:02:40. > :02:44.able to become immersed in the soul of it. He has integrity with

:02:45. > :02:48.whatever he does, so if he's making music to get you shaking, you know

:02:49. > :03:00.that this is a guy who knows how to shake. I think the Proms audience

:03:01. > :03:06.can expect a very interesting adaptation of Mingus's music. It's

:03:07. > :03:16.going to be nice and spicy. So I'm the bottom of hot sauce! -- bottle.

:03:17. > :03:20.We want to have some friction, some battles, some war, and we want to

:03:21. > :03:25.show people the depth of a composer who is seminal and stands amongst

:03:26. > :03:31.all of the true greats of jazz music.

:03:32. > :50:23.APPLAUSE That are

:50:24. > :50:27.# Take away the grief you've caused # Can't sleep at night

:50:28. > :50:36.# With the fear that I'll live it all again

:50:37. > :50:45.# When you say she doesn't want me

:50:46. > :51:10.# That has paid the price of love

:51:11. > :05:07.People who are eccentric and also having some dark sides to their

:05:08. > :05:13.character, they are very attractive for people after their time. Because

:05:14. > :05:21.the moment they live, they suffer from it because they aren't

:05:22. > :05:23.adjusting to society. Later on, they put people in heaven. It's always a

:05:24. > :05:37.little bit late, I think. It would be very difficult for you

:05:38. > :05:51.to find a musician or artist who has music with more struggle in it. But

:05:52. > :05:55.you can see that this is also, there is a conceptual crew lying in his

:05:56. > :06:06.music. His experience is struggle, so why would his music be laden with

:06:07. > :06:11.release? It's not a simple music, it's not a music that says this is a

:06:12. > :06:15.surface level of who I am. It says that levels to me and the music that

:06:16. > :06:23.I play, that you have to come towards me to really comprehend. The

:06:24. > :06:27.way that his legacy lives on through me is that people shouldn't always

:06:28. > :06:32.just copy what other people are doing. It's more important to create

:06:33. > :06:38.your own style based on your influences, because that's what he

:06:39. > :06:43.did. I think you such an inspiration because he was a rebel, he was an

:06:44. > :06:50.extremely complex, charismatic but enigmatic character. For me, to take

:06:51. > :06:59.that into the symphonic context, is what made it appealing. I feel like

:07:00. > :07:03.Charles Mingus's legacy is unquestionable. There are teachings

:07:04. > :07:07.of his methods, the writings of his ways, and the fact is that if you

:07:08. > :07:13.listen to his record now they still stand the test of time.

:07:14. > :23:35.# All alone, sad clown with his circus closed down.

:23:36. > :23:46.# Lost in a merry-go-ound, came a melody in my heart so yearning.

:23:47. > :23:49.# Taught me to hear music out of love,

:23:50. > :24:14.# Infinite, with the lover and beloved,

:24:15. > :32:48.# Waiting To show what he sees

:32:49. > :33:02.--so afraid And the one that keeps

:33:03. > :33:11.# One's so sweet so overly loving and gentle

:33:12. > :33:20.# He lets people into his innermost sacred temple

:33:21. > :33:44.The insulting plan God must be a boogie man!

:33:45. > :35:14.# Which one do you think he'd want the world to see

:35:15. > :35:18.# Well world opinion's not a lot of help

:35:19. > :35:24.# When a man's only trying to find out how to feel about himself

:35:25. > :35:36.The cock-eyed plan God must be a boogie man!