PDX Jazz Celebrates Mingus Dynasty: Rarely Performed 1957 Tijuana Moods Masterpiece

The Western Jazz Presenters Network, a consortium of 25 presenting organizations, will celebrate the legacy of the iconoclastic jazz legend Charles Mingus through a series of concerts to be presented in Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Tijuana and Portland, Oregon. The auspicious occasion by the majestic Mingus Dynasty celebrates the historic 1957 Tijuana Moods recording.

Mingus Dynasty, which rarely tours in the U.S., will feature: tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, alto saxophonist/flautist Brandon Wright, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy, pianist Theo Hill, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Adam Cruz.

While considered one of Mingus' masterworks, the Tijuana Moods album has not been played

in its entirety since the formation of Dynasty shortly after Mingus' death in 1979, and the

performance featured an all-alumni group spearheaded by the exuberant Dannie Richmond and arranger Jimmy Knepper. The albums' genesis came from a trip to Mexico in the late '50s by Mingus who reflected, "...with the sting of tequila, salt and lime in my mouth and burning my nostrils, I decided to benefit musically from this experience and set out to compose and re-create what I felt and saw around me."

Considered one of the most important figures in twentieth century American music, Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist, bandleader and composer. He is often mentioned alongside Duke Ellington as one of the most important composers in jazz history. Active from the 1950s through his death in 1979, Mingus created a rich repertoire of jazz standards and an impressive catalog of major recordings, and fostered generations of musicians who had their apprenticeship in his band.

After his death, Mingus' widow, Sue, continued the Mingus Big Band and the smaller Dynasty band, which draws its musicians from first-chair players in the larger ensemble. The big band -- and on occasion Mingus Dynasty -- plays Mingus' music every Monday night at one of NYC's most important jazz venues, the Jazz Standard, and includes some of the top jazz musicians in New York.

Legendary jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus Jr. was born at the Camp Little Army Hospital in Nogales on April 22, 1922. His father, a sergeant, was stationed at the camp with his wife and two daughters who were born at Camp Little before him. Although the family soon left this segregated camp for a new life in the Watts area of South Central Los Angeles, the birth of this jazz great is reminder of the legacy of African Americans in southern Arizona.

While rumors perpetuate of Mingus visiting Nogales and playing in clubs in Sonora, there is no proof of this romantic notion. But he did spend time in Cuernavaca, Mexico seeking a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and died there on Jan. 5, 1979. Nevertheless, Mingus revisited this border town in spirit through projects generated by southern Arizona music fans and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

"Jazz on the Border: The Mingus Project" was produced in April 1993 by the Tucson Jazz Society and the Nogales-Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce. It included youth education, a performance of Mingus' Epitaph including the world premiere of a long-lost movement from that masterwork, and free concerts on both sides of the border.

  

The Santa Cruz Advocates for the Arts was formed in 2007 to renew the celebration of Mingus' legacy by producing the annual Charles Mingus Hometown Music Festival around his birthday, and by building The Mingus Memorial Park at the former entrance to Camp Little at Western and Bejarano streets. The park is a public/private partnership, the City of Nogales having donated the land, infrastructure and upkeep.  A pocket oasis of plants and art, the park is easily transformed into a performance facility which may be used by other local non-profits as well.

Dan Atkinson, a leading jazz presenter for UC San Diego and the Athenaeum, conceived of the Tijuana Moods project as a way to strengthen ties with Mexico and the neighboring border city of Tijuana. "We live here at the busiest border crossing in the world, where the 8th largest city in the US meets the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Mexico. In a region where the US and Mexico are constantly exchanging influence in every sector, what better way to express this reality than to present an American jazz giant's creative reflections on Tijuana, and to see this music performed there for the first time ever by his own legacy band?"

"Charles Mingus has cast an imposing influence over post war modern jazz and Dynasty musically and politically speaks to the heart of his various ensembles. Dan Atkinson is to be commended for initiating this project, and Network Director Yvonne Ervin for collaborating with the Nogales community and network partners," concludes PDX Jazz Executive Artistic Director Don Lucoff.

  

Mingus Dynasty on Tour is presented by WJPN and funded in part by

WESTAF Tour West, The Bright Moments Fund and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Jan. 19: Tucson, AZ, HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival, Fox Theatre

Jan. 20: Phoenix, AZ, Musical Instrument Museum

Jan. 21: Tijuana, Baja CA, Mexico; CECUT Cultural Center

Jan. 22: San Diego CA, TSRI Auditorium (Athenaeum Jazz at TSRI series)

Jan. 23: Portland OR, Revolution Hall (PDX Jazz)