Charles Mingus

Capable of the most thunderous anger as well as the most disarming bouts of tenderness, Mingus , a powerful double bassist , an inexhaustible composer , a top-notch arranger and an intractable conductor , died in 1979, leaving posterity a musical legacy in the image of its contradictory personality: storms and storms rub shoulders with azure skies and rainbows according to the artistic moods of their designer.

But let's make no mistake: the abundant Mingusian musical world contains riches of a magnitude comparable to that of the greatest ( Ellington , Monk ). Because our man was not only a demiurge, he was also a sorcerer, capable of mastering fire like ice, of mixing tradition and modernity , of making a standard sound like an avant-garde work or of making us take on a his most advanced creations for a composition from the thirties.

And then, always lurking in a corner ready to pounce, the influence of roots, blues and gospel, to which Knight Mingus had pledged unfailing allegiance. A real one, an enormous one, a superb creator, as jazz has only known a dozen. Charlie, your galactic outbursts, your barely controlled excesses, your demands for freedom, your thirst to create, we sorely miss all of that...