Description
Book SynopsisCharles Mingus was one of the most innovative jazz musicians of the 20th century. This new biography by the acclaimed music critic Gene Santoro argues that Mingus was not only a great musician and composer but a central character in the postwar American cultural renaissance.
Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Physically bearish and imposing, Mingus always seemed even larger psychically, a figure to fill the room, alter the vibes, suck up all the air - a cross between Falstaff and Othello. In his marvellous hall of mirrors, Myself When I Am real, Gene Santoro has grasped him whole, or at least as whole as one can expect from mere prose. Some passages suggest the hammering rhythms of a drum solo, others the sprawl of a Mingusian piano meditation. It is a stunning achievement. * Gary Giddins, author of Visions of Jazz *
Mingus's creative turbulence comes alive. we see how his life and times, including his battles with racism and the musci business and himself, were intimately entwined with his remarkable music. * Cassandra Wilson *
An admirably objective attempt to come to terms with the personal and musical complexity that was Charles Mingus. Gene Santoro's comprehensively researched and critically insightful book makes Mingus as fascinating and as outrageous as Mingus himself seemed to have always wanted to be. * Albert Murray, author of Stomping the Blues *
Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; Prologue: Better Get It In Your Soul ; 1. Growing Up Absurd ; 2. Black Like Me ; 3. Making the Scene ; 4. Life During Wartime ; 5. Portrait of the Artist ; 6. The Big Apple, or On the Road ; 7. Pithecanthropus Erectus ; 8. Mingus Dynasty ; 9. Camelot ; 10. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady ; 11. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest ; 12. Beneath the Underdog ; 13. Let My Children Hear Music ; 14. Changes ; 15. Don't Be Afraid, the Clown's Afraid, Too ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Discography ; Acknowledgements ; Index
