The angry man of jazz actually looks pretty calm when he's out shooting. Nonchalant, even. His gun etiquette does seem lacking, though. He's chomping on a cigar, his stance isn't strong, he's loading the gun from the top, he isn't aiming at any target in particular… oh, and he's shooting from inside his rented Greenwich village apartment!
This morsel was gleaned from a short film shot in 1966. Filmmaker Thomas Reichman set out to document Mingus and the music school he had intended to start up. Trouble was, Mingus was undergoing a few especially volatile few years. Those years got him in a lot of financial, legal and mental trouble. He was extraordinarily talented, vain, cantankerous, violent and not at all against expressing his disdain for his forthcoming eviction. Naturally, all of these qualities are present in Reichman's cinema verite documentary and the results are interesting, if not a bit distressing, to watch.
This wasn't the first time Mingus shot off a gun from within the confines of the great indoors, though.
He chased hecklers down the street, he destroyed his own double bass in the middle of a gig, he fired a gun on stage when the band wasn't playing up to scratch. He once punched the trombonist Jimmy Knepper and damaged his teeth so badly he could no longer play at the top octave range. Stories like this, along with his talent for writing music (he called it a "gift from God") and his fearless dexterity on the bass has proved rich pickings for many biographers.
Deb Grant, bigissue.com
And if you don't want to linger on Mingus' agro ammo antics any longer, might I suggest Haitian Fight song?
Previously: How to potty train your cat, according to jazz musician Charles Mingus
