Preserving the Legacy of Charles Mingus

Bassist-composer Charles Mingus, raised in Watts, matured by adversity, a musical maverick for his entire remarkable career, spent most of his life as a kind of jazz conscience. Compositions such as “Fables of Faubus” and “Meditations on Integration” dealt with social issues well before pop music reached a meaningful awareness of such matters. His autobiography, “Beneath the Underdog,” is a harrowing picture of the perils faced by African American artists, and his music consistently expanded the frontiers of jazz as the voice of community.

In many societies, such an artist would be widely honored. Yet as late as 1968, when Mingus was already a jazz legend, he was evicted from his New York apartment (the episode was preserved in Thomas Reichman’s film “Mingus”). Although he had received a Guggenheim Fellowship and was universally admired by musicians, his last years were difficult as he struggled with the complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). He died Jan. 5, 1979, at 56.

Curiously, Mingus’ music is heard far more frequently now than it was when he was alive. The group Mingus Dynasty, using a wide variety of major players, recorded several albums of his compositions throughout the 1980s.

More recently, the Mingus Big Band--a state-of-the-art ensemble of New York musicians--has dramatically expanded the available palette of Mingus’ music. Their appearances and recordings, performing original as well as newly arranged and reconstructed versions of his works, are revelatory examples of his remarkable creativity.

The Mingus Big Band appears in several Southland locations next week: at Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton on Wednesday, (714) 553-2422; at the California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido, Nov. 22, (619) 738-4100; and at the Veterans Wadsworth Theatre Nov. 23, (310) 825-2101. All three concerts take place at 8 p.m.

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The Mingus legacy has fared less well on recordings, where it has been continually victimized by pirated recordings. His widow, Sue Mingus, has identified dozens of unauthorized releases on CD, cassette and LP, some from secretly recorded live concerts and some that are illegal copies of legitimate, but often out-of-print, recordings.

“At first,” she says, “I tried to deal with the problem directly. I went into record stores and told the owners they were selling illegal merchandise. That didn’t do much good, so then I started to go in the stores, gather up the bootleg copies and walk out with them. Most of the time I wasn’t even stopped, because they knew the records were illegal. But it wasn’t solving the problem.”

So Sue Mingus decided to establish a new company specifically devoted to the proper release of albums by her late husband that had been issued by bootleggers. Appropriately, it is called “Revenge Records.” (“Charles would have liked the title,” she says with a laugh.)

Even here, however, problems surfaced. The initial two-CD release “The Legendary Paris Concerts,” devoted to superb 1964 performances by a touring ensemble that featured legendary saxophonist Eric Dolphy, repeats errors of information (dates, personnel data) included on pirated editions. And it fails to note that the recordings were initially released, legitimately, on Fantasy LPs in 1972.

But--as always was the case, even in the sometimes abortive, often confused appearances Mingus made when he was alive--the music is extraordinary (and Sue Mingus promises to sweat the details more carefully in future releases). Like Duke Ellington, his idol, Mingus created music with the capacity to survive and flourish, regardless of the circumstances surrounding its presentation.

Two other Mingus collections, both legitimate, have also just been released. “New Tijuana Moods” (BMG), is a reissue of a classic 1957 date with the added bonus of four extended alternate takes. “Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert” (Columbia) chronicles an epic 1972 concert by a large ensemble featuring an amazing lineup that included (among others) Gene Ammons, Jon Faddis, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, James Moody and Charles McPherson. Columbia has remixed and remastered the tracks and added 40 minutes of previously unreleased material.

Quick Takes: ABC television will present an extremely rare breakthrough for jazz in prime time on Dec. 28 with a special concert program featuring Herbie Hancock, Grover Washington Jr., Tony Bennett and others. The performance, honoring the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, will be taped at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Nov. 25 in association with the institute’s 10th annual jazz instrumentalist competition, this year devoted to saxophonists. Past winners of the prestigious event include Joshua Redman and Jacky Terrasson. . . . Speaking of Bennett, his sunny, light-filled paintings will be on exhibition at Marco Fine Arts Gallery in Beverly Hills, next Thursday through Dec. 23. Information: (310) 278-8371. . . . The American Jazz Philharmonic has created the Henry Mancini Institute, which will provide young musicians the opportunity to study with such artists as Ray Brown and Phil Woods. The first four-week session will be held next summer on the campus of Cal State Long Beach. Information: (213) 937-4905.

On the Bandstand: Gerald Wilson’s roaring big band appears at El Camino College on Saturday at 8 p.m. Information: (800) 832-ARTS. . . . The venerable Benny Carter and his quartet continue through Sunday at Catalina Bar & Grill, with the Billy Childs Trio arriving at the same venue for a two-nighter on Tuesday. . . . Randy Weston and John Handy are at the Jazz Bakery through Sunday, with baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber making a rare appearance at the venue on Wednesday. . . .

Charlie Haden’s Quartet West appears with a string orchestra at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Sunday at 8 p.m. Pianist Jacky Terrasson’s trio is also on the bill. Information: (800) 414-ALEX. . . . Free jazz concerts include the Kenny Burrell Quartet at the L.A. County Museum of Art, tonight at 5:30 p.m. (Information: [213] 857-6000); and vocalist Sonny Craver’s trio at Pedrini Music in Alhambra, Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Information: (213) 283-1932.