If there is anyone that can be best described as a bass-superstar, it certainly is Charles Mingus. OK, his legacy lies in his unique composing and arranging talents, but his playing skills were equal in establishing Mingus as a legend. He was a virtuoso bassist who developed new techniques of playing and expanded the instrument's role beyond a merely supportive one. He is considered to be one of the most challenging and celebrated musicians in jazz history, both for his playing and his innovations. Steve Lacy, the soprano saxophonist, said about him: “He was a giant as a bass player and, as a composer and bandleader, he was really stimulating and challenging. I think Mingus is in the process of turning into a classic whereas (Thelonious) Monk is already a classic, so maybe it's just a matter of time."
Mingus’ personality was a legend by itself. He was known to fire and rehire band members over the course of a set, and was once fired himself for chasing a trombonist across the stage with an axe. Guitarist and singer Jackie Paris recalls: “He chased everybody off the stand except [drummer] Paul Motian and me... The three of us just wailed on the blues for about an hour and a half before he called the other cats back." One time, Mingus punched Jimmy Knepper and broke a tooth and its underlying stub, which ruined his embouchure and resulted in the permanent loss of the top octave of his range on the trombone. He wasn’t gentle on the listeners either. When confronted with a nightclub audience talking and clinking ice in their glasses while he performed, Mingus stopped the performance and said to the audience: "Isaac Stern doesn't have to put up with this shit." On another occasion, he destroyed a $20,000 bass in response to the listeners heckling at New York's Five club. But his unpredictable temper, which earned him the nickname “The Angry Man of Jazz,” had its bright sides too. Charles Mingus’ performances were full of surprises and experimentation that the audiences never knew quite what they were going to see and hear, and this kept them coming again and again.
Mingus’ music was eclectic, in a way that it retained the warm and soulful feel of hard bop, drawing heavily from black gospel music and blues, while sometimes containing elements of Third Stream, free jazz, and classical music. He once stated that Duke Ellington and church were the main influences that shaped his musical taste and vision. His groups, similar to those of Ellington, Art Blakey or Miles Davis, were a platform for young musicians to showcase their talents and elevate their careers. Many “cats” passed through his bands; he recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists, assembling them in unconventional instrumental configurations. Mingus' compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition. Aside from his ingenuity as a composer and bandleader, his advanced double bass technique puts him in the spot of a first bassist-superstar, and among the pioneers of advanced bass playing.
