Mingus Bands:
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MINGUS BIG BAND
“The hippest big band in the universe - robust, earthy, sanctified.”
Mingus Big Band performs exclusively the music of composer/bassist Charles Mingus who celebrated his Centennial year in 2022. Building off the strengths of Mingus Dynasty septet Sue Mingus formed after Mingus’ death in 1979, and 1989’s Epitaph orchestra, in 1991 she created this 14-piece band to feature new arrangements of Mingus compositions in a larger band format that Mingus wanted, but was not always able to organize in his lifetime. The dynamic structure encourages deep explorations and ever-evolving ideations of Mingus Music and provides a platform for individual artistic expression.
Drawing from a rotation of the best established and rising musicians, Mingus Big Band is highly sought-after by festivals and prestigious venues around the world. The band has twelve recordings to its credit, seven nominated for Grammys, and one win in 2011 with Live at Jazz Standard. A new album, The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions, was released in October 2022 and nominated for a Grammy. The second volume was released in 2024 on Candid Records followed by a wide physical release of selections from both albums.
The band has become a New York institution for locals and tourists alike, with a weekly residency now in its fourth decade. From Thursday nights at Fez under Time Cafe, to Joe’s Pub, Iridium, and landing finally at Mingus Mondays at Jazz Standard until its pandemic closure. Mingus Mondays returns to The Pocket Jazz Club in 2026. Click events to find Mingus Big Band performances in NYC and elsewhere!
“For sheer melodic and rhythmic and structural originality, his compositions may equal anything written in western music in the twentieth century.”
RECORDINGS
The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions Vol 2 - Mingus Big Band
Recording Dates: January 28-31, 2020 | Vol 2 Release Date: Aug 9, 2024 Candid Records/Jazz Workshop, Inc.
In this follow-up to the Grammy-nominated Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions Volume 1, the legendary Mingus Big Band pulls from decades of experience from a weekly New York City residency to celebrate one hundred years of Mingus, his influence on the evolution of music, his extraordinary life, trailblazing career, and vital activism.
Drawn from his catalogue of 300+ compositions, highlights on this album include never-before-recorded compositions, new arrangements, vocals and narrations by Charles’ son Eric Mingus, and thirty-four first-class musicians, rotating in Mingus Big Band tradition. The 2020 week-long sessions were engineered by Rich Keller at Sound on Sound Studios, and directed by co-leaders Alex Foster and Boris Kozlov, the latter playing Mingus’ famous 1927 Ernst Heinrich Roth double bass.
Released: Jun 23, 2015 Sunnyside
“Off and on for two decades, trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy has played in New York's Mingus Big Band, dedicated to the music of the late Charles Mingus. On the band's new album, Lacy steps out front, singing a batch of Mingus songs. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says it's weirdly right.” -NPR’S FRESH AIR
GRAMMY WINNER in 2011: BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM
53rd Annual Grammy Awards
Release Date: 4/19/10 Jazz Workshop, Inc. | Jazz Standard
“Every tune a classic, every player a master, every tune sounding new, every player keeping the spirit of Charles Mingus alive and swinging!” -Michael Bourne, WBGO
2006 Grammy Nomination (49th Annual Grammy Awards)
Release Date: 9/26/06
Sue Mingus Music/Sunnyside Records/Universal Music Jazz France
Tracks:
1. Wham Bam
2. Opus Four
3. Celia
4. Bird Calls
5. Meditations
6. Prayer For Passive Resistance
7. Free Cell Block F
8. Ecclusiastics
2005 Grammy Nomination (48th Annual Grammy Awards)
”A rousing album.” New York Times
Sue Mingus Music / Sunnyside Records / Universal Music Jazz France,
Mingus Big Band musicians currently active in tours, Monday residency, educational events, and recordings
Trumpets:
Saxophones
TROMBONES
RHYTHM SECTION
Boris Kozlov, bassist, is a two-time Grammy Award-winning musician, composer and arranger.
Currently serving as a bassist, arranger and musical director for Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra, as well as leading his own projects, he has also been a first-call bassist for such important jazz acts as Michael Brecker, John Blake, Ray Barretto's 'New World Spirit', Lew Tabackin, David Kikoski, Alex Sipiagin, Jean-Michel Pilc and many others.
Donald Edwards has played across the globe with some of the finest musicians in jazz and other genres. He has now built a reputation all his own. He is a 2018 recipient of the Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works Grant, A Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Jazz Project. After winning the Louisiana Arts Ambassador’s Award in 1994 for Music Composition, Donald Edwards became one of the most sought after drummers on the Baton Rouge/ New Orleans music scene. He grew up playing different kinds of music ranging from marching band, hip-hop and pop to r&b, jazz, funk and gospel music. As a result, Edwards is now called on to play many different genres of music and meets them with creative interpretation and virtuosity. Donald Edwards is among the vanguard of players on the New York scene today. Edwards has 4 recordings as a leader and is also involved in the production of numerous recording projects.
The Critics say:
"The jazz repertory event of the season. . . [the Big Band] is digging into the repertoire of Charles Mingus, playing old and new arrangements that capture the best parts of the Mingus legacy: the muscle, the affection for history, the willingness to take chances, the guts and soulfulness.”
- The New York Times
“The best jazz orchestra in the world bears the name of THE Mingus Big Band. . .a remarkable high standard of musicianship, energy and consistency."
- Geoffrey Himes of The Washington Post
"The Mingus Big Band - musician for musician - is one of the most spirited and technically gifted bands in the country." - Seattle Examiner
"Mingus's music doesn't merely deserve to be heard; jazz needs it." - The New York Times
"A better band than ever today…plenty of meaty, memorable solos… but the real star is this world-class band, swinging through Mingus' music with an ease that masks the pieces' difficulty.”
-Tony Scherman in People
"The weekly Monday Mingus show at the Jazz Standard is New York’s most transcendent weekly residency. It’s probably the best in the entire world."
-Lucid Culture
"The most inspired, exciting ensemble jazz performance I've attended since the New York night I heard a somewhat different Mingus Big Band in the Fez...."
-Philip Elwood The San Francisco Examiner
"Mingus Big Band is a wonder and an anomaly...the Mingus Band has taken a musical legacy and transformed it into a creative force that generates a contemporary originality and vitality all its own. They are an important part of the current jazz scene and a constant reminder that jazz—big band jazz, at that—is not merely entertainment but a powerful art form and means of expression."
-All About Jazz
"A spirited blend of the lush harmonies and boisterous blues sections, interwoven ensemble passages and sudden tempo shifts that made the late bassist Charles Mingus one of the most challenging and celebrated artists in jazz."
- Los Angeles Times
"An astonishingly telepathic ensemble."
- New York Daily News
"Succeeds triumphantly where others [repertory bands] have failed."
- The London Times
"..revived Charles Mingus's repertory and the brawling, muscular, hard-swinging, bluesy way he wanted it played."
-Jon Pareles of The New York Times
"Unlike some, this repertory band doesn't grow stale or ossified --- the reasons are threefold. One, the touring personnel is constantly shifting, bringing in fresh approaches. Two, the repertory of Mingus is so vast, varied and unpredictable that it might always be a renewable resource. Three, founder/guiding light Sue Mingus won't let the spirit wither."
- Daily Variety
2010 promotion video of the 14-piece MINGUS BIG BAND. Legendary residency in NYC. Critical and popular acclaim for three decades.
GRAMMY-NOMINATED (66th Annual Grammy Awards
Release date October 7, 2022 Jazz Workshop, Inc.
The flagship repertory ensemble Mingus Big Band celebrates the 100th anniversary of Mingus’ birth with The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions, its highest quality studio recording to date. Highlights include twenty-two compositions and new arrangements, vocals and narrations by Charles’ son Eric Mingus, and over thirty first-class musicians rotating in Mingus Big Band tradition.