Mingus
Two Portraits of Charles Mingus-One in the Lived Medium of Film and Another Music is a lived, performative medium that cannot be fullyencompassed in description. Even when an individual piece of music isrendered into print in an effective and moving fashion, it still changesthe nature of the music itself into something different-namely, into apiece of prose that is a crafted example of the written art, rather than awork of music that is a moving and vibrant work of sound. One of the greatest jazz musicians of recent date is that of CharlesMingus. His work and his life cry out for a biography of his contributionto the musical medium and of his life as a performer. How to render thegenius of the man in such a way that his personality and his contributionto musical history can be understood' Perhaps the best, albeit imperfectway, turn to print only as a way of fleshing out the concrete details ofMingus' contribution to jazz after spending one's live loving his music.In the absence of this, seeing the man on film through a documentary suchas "Charles Mingus: The Triumph of the Underdog," offers anotheropportunity for a music historian to see the man a
Steven Isoardi, an interviewer for the UCLA OralHistory Project, spoke to 30 musicians; 19 of those conversations appear inthis book. But how to contextually render that life in history' The text ofCentral Avenue Sounds offers perhaps the best literary compromise-it is awork of prose, but one that offers an oral history of jazz. Atone point, during Don McGlynne's "Charles Mingus: The Triumph of theUnderdog," Charles Mingus says to the camera "I am half black man, halfyellow man, but I claim to be a Negro. Even the contradictions regarding his personality that emergefrom the text of Mingus' friends and colleagues are interesting and do notnecessarily deflate the accuracy of the work-they suggest the varied natureof his personality. Charles Mingus was a critical influence upon many of these artists, as wellas was influenced by those who preceded him. Perspective isprovided through the voices and occasionally the music of other individualsor culturally significant people who knew Mingus or were inspired him, suchas the currently famous trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. The presence of racism in the California of the 1950's isunsparingly documented, and again, makes Mingus' achievements even moreimpressive. Central Avenue Sounds presents asnapshot of how specifically Mingus wrestled with his destiny as a musicalcontributor to the scene. Rather, the text of thedocumentary is more linear and focused on Mingus' development. The voice of Mingus and Mingus' own emotiveforce is conveyed brilliantly, although the voices of other contributorsemerge less forcefully, because of its visual power and singular focus upona central subject. It makes a powerful argument not justfor the centrality of Mingus in jazz but also for the need to use prose togive a sense of how an individual thinks, not simply how they appear, move,and even sound on a screen or a stage. I am Charles Mingus, the famed jazzmusician-but not famed enough to make a living in America. In the documentary, Mingus emerges more as apersonality, and the lived texture of his showmanship and artistry as amusician comes to real life. Thedocumentary begins with a portrait of Mingus in the present, extends backto his past and follows his career into the present.
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Acceptance Essays
