MINGUS REPERTORY BANDS
100 years after his birth, four exciting ensembles celebrate and further the music of the composer and bassist, Charles Mingus
MINGUS BIG BAND
True to the artistic vision of Sue Mingus, the 14-piece Mingus Big Band tours extensively in the United States and abroad, and has twelve recordings to its credit, six of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards, and won in 2011. A new album, The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions, was released in October 2022. The second volume will be released in 2023.
MINGUS DYNASTY
The original nimble ensemble, 7-piece Mingus Dynasty brings the great legacy of Mingus composition and individual creativity to audiences around the world.
MINGUS ORCHESTRA
The Mingus Orchestra was featured on the Grammy nominated CD Tonight At Noon, performing with Elvis Costello, in 2002. The 10-piece band alternated with the other Mingus bands Mondays at Jazz Standard and toured domestically 2010-2011, made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius.
EPITAPH
A two-hour composition for 30 musicians written by Charles Mingus and conducted by Gunther Schuller, premiered in 1989 at Lincoln Center. Performances in 2007 in New York, Cleveland, LA and Chicago, and in 2022 and 2023 in Berlin, London, and Yale. ”Among the most important, prophetic, creative musical statements in the history of jazz.” – Gunther Schuller “The greatest jazz event of the decade.” – New York Times 1989.
In 2023 an new touring educational project was launched, where Mingus Big Band musicians who have been playing Mingus for decades join local student or professional ensembles to present Epitaph.