The Charles Mingus Big Band

My birthday present this year was the Charles Mingus Big Band live at Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. The band was there to celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month and the centential of the birth of iconic bass player and composer Charles Mingus. We were treated to a dynamic concert, full of energy and contrast.

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

A highlight was the second tune, a version of the Mingus composition “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” using the lyrics written by Joni Mitchell. Singer Frank Lacy gave an impassioned, powerful rendition of the story about saxophonist Lester Young, who married a white woman, and found “love is never easy street.” Scott Robinson started the tune with an amazing unaccompanied sax solo

Charles McPherson

In a surprise, one of Mingus’s original bandmates joined the concert. Charles McPherson is well into his 80s and it was wonderful to watch the reactions of the seated bandmembers as he took his first solo – they were blown away!

Fables of Faubus

McPherson gave a great intro to this Mingus protest song, about the governor of Arkansas in the civil rights era. The band shouted the protest lyrics as part of the song. It was stirring

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