30 Quotes by Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus, an iconic American jazz musician, composer, and bandleader, left an indelible mark on the world of music with his innovative and boundary-pushing contributions to jazz. Born in 1922, Mingus was a virtuoso bassist known for his technical prowess, distinctive tone, and improvisational brilliance.
As a composer, he broke free from conventional jazz norms, infusing his works with elements of blues, gospel, classical, and avant-garde music, creating a unique and groundbreaking sound. Mingus' compositions were often characterized by their emotional depth, evocative storytelling, and profound social commentary. His ability to convey complex emotions through music allowed him to connect deeply with audiences, transcending the boundaries of the jazz genre.
Throughout his career, Mingus led several influential ensembles, and his leadership style was a perfect reflection of his personality – passionate, demanding, and fiercely committed to artistic integrity. Despite facing personal and professional challenges, he remained steadfast in his pursuit of musical excellence and cultural expression. Charles Mingus' legacy endures as a testament to the transformative power of music, reminding us of its ability to challenge societal norms, unite diverse influences, and create a timeless impact on the human spirit.
Charles Mingus Quotes
Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.
I never heard my music played the way I heard it in my head.
My music is evidence of my souls will to live.
If Charlie Parker were a Gunslinger, There'd be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats
Jazz music is a language of the emotions.
I, myself, came to enjoy the players who didn't only just swing but who invented new rhythmic patterns, along with new melodic concepts. And those people are: Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Parker, who is the greatest genius of all to me because he changed the whole era around.
Making the complicated simple is true creativity.
Bach is how buildings got taller. It's how we got to the moon.
My son's a painter. All through school his teachers tell him he's a genius. I tell him to paint me an apple that looks like an apple before he paints me one that doesn't. Go where you can go, but start from someplace recognizable.
I admire anyone who can come up with something original. But not originality alone, because there can be originality in stupidity, with no musical description of any emotion or any beauty the man has seen, or any kind of life he has lived.
They're singing your praises while stealing your phrases.
In my music, I'm trying to play the truth of what I am.
I've got a feeling that if it's so easy for you - the struggle and the initiative are not as strong as they are for a person who has to struggle and therefore has more to say.
I was always doing revolutionary things, things that would alert people, so they would stop being so subservient.
Life has many changes. Tomorrow it may rain, and it's supposed to be sunshine, 'cause it's summertime. But God's got a funny soul, he plays like Charlie Parker.
Whatever coast he's on, a man should be himself. I don't write in any particular idiom, I write Charles Mingus.
Most customers, by the time the musicians reach the second set, are to some extent inebriated. They don't care what you play anyway.
Making the simple complicated is commonplace.
Anybody can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.
Since the white man says he came from the evolution of animals, well, maybe the black man didn't. The white man has made so many errors in the handling of people that maybe he did come from a gorilla or a fish and crawl up on the sand and then into the trees. Of course, evolution doesn't take God into consideration. I don't think people learned to do all the things they do through evolution.
I'm too busy playing. When I'm playing I don't pay attention to who's listening. When I was listening I listened to symphony orchestras, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Stravinsky. You don't listen to one instrument; you listen to music.
Let my children have music! Let them hear live music.
Jazz is the language of the emotions.
What do you think happens to a composer who is sincere and loves to write and has to wait thirty years to have someone play a piece of his music?
If you think this is weird, just look at yourselves.
If someone has been escaping reality, I don't expect him to dig my music.
Tastes are created by the business interests. How else can you explain the popularity of Al Hirt?
― Charles Mingus Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
