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Stanford Lively Arts Presents Mingus Dynasty On Feb. 2 As Part Of Season-Long Celebration Of Jazz Legend Charles Mingus

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The sound of jazz composer, bassist, and bandleader Charles Mingus lives on in Mingus Dynasty, the celebrated New York-based septet that makes a rare Bay Area appearance at Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium on Wednesday, February 2 at 8:00 p.m. The concert is a centerpiece of Stanford Lively Arts's “Remember Mingus" series, continuing throughout the rest of the season with a number of musical demonstrations, conversations, and performances. The series is presented in partnership with Stanford Jazz Workshop and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Drawing from the cream of the New York jazz scene, Mingus Dynasty is the first of three Mingus repertory bands founded and directed by the late jazz legend's widow, Sue Mingus. As opposed to its larger-scale sister ensembles, the Dynasty employs its smaller format to focus on individual solo expression and experimentation within Mingus's compositions. The Lively Arts concert will feature Craig Handy (saxophone), Seamus Blake (tenor saxophone), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet), Ku-umba Frank Lacy (trombone), Boris Kozlov (bass), Kenny Drew Jr. (piano) and Donald Edwards (drums).

Leading up to the Mingus Dynasty's performance, Sue Mingus joins Aurora Forum director Mark Gonnerman and Stanford history professor Clay Carson for a free conversation about the life and times of Mingus in the context of the Civil Rights era (February 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Pigott Theater). Other events include two Stanford Lively Arts/Aurora Forum Jazz Book Club discussions of Sue Mingus's memoir and Duke Ellington's autobiography (February 2 and 23, respectively, at 6:30 p.m. at the Stanford Coffee House) and a presentation by National Jazz Museum co-director Loren Schoenberg and saxophonist Charles McPherson (February 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cantor Arts Center). McPherson, who played with Mingus in the 1960s and '70s, returns for a guest appearance with the Stanford Jazz Orchestra (February 23 at 8:00 p.m. in Dinkelspiel Auditorium).

Lively Arts' presentation of Mingus Dynasty is generously supported by Fred and Stephanie Harman and by the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces: Chamber Music programs. Funding is also provided by The Koret Foundation's Koret Jazz Project, a multiyear initiative to support, expand and celebrate the role of jazz in the artistic and educational programming of Stanford Lively Arts.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

The seven-piece Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus' death. Although big bands like the Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey bands had continued to perform after their leader passed on, a similar legacy never existed for smaller ensembles. Because Mingus always said he was first and foremost a composer, and because he left behind over 300 compositions that deserved to be played, a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission. For the sake of authenticity, the first Dynasty bands were expected to include only musicians who had actually performed with Mingus—except for the bassist, of course. Today, 30 years later, the rich legacy of Mingus music ignites the bandstand while new generations of musicians—many of them not even alive during the composer's lifetime—add their individual voices and continue to interpret and build on his compositions.

One of the most important figures in twentieth century American music, Charles Mingus (1922㭋) was a masterful composer and bandleader and a virtuoso bassist. His early professional experience, in the 1940s, found him touring with bands led by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Lionel Hampton. In New York he played and recorded with the leading musicians of the 1950s, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Art Tatum and Duke Ellington. One of the few bassists to do so, Mingus quickly developed as a leader of musicians. He was also an accomplished pianist who could have made a career playing that instrument. By the mid-'50s he had formed his own publishing and recording companies to protect and document his growing repertoire of original music. He also founded the “Jazz Workshop," a group that enabled young composers to have their new works performed in concert and on recordings. From the 1960s until his death at age 56, Mingus remained in the forefront of American music. When asked to comment on his accomplishments, Mingus said that his abilities as a bassist were the result of hard work but that his talent for composition came from God.

TICKETS

Tickets for Mingus Dynasty, presented by Stanford Lively Arts on Wednesday, February 2 at 8:00 p.m. in Dinkelspiel Auditorium, range $38 to $42 for adults and $10 for Stanford students. Half-price tickets are available for young people age 18 and under, and discounts are available for groups and non-Stanford students. Call 650-725-ARTS (2787), or visit Lively Arts online at http://livelyarts.stanford.edu.

VENUE INFORMATION

Dinkelspiel Auditorium is located on the Stanford University campus at 471 Lagunita Drive, adjacent to Tresidder Union. Parking on campus is free of charge after 4:00 p.m. and on weekends at all times and may be found in the lot off Lagunita Drive near Tresidder Memorial Union and on Abbott Way. Maps and directions can be accessed at http://livelyarts.stanford.edu.

ABOUT STANFORD LIVELY ARTS

Stanford Lively Arts curates experiences that engage artists' and audiences' imagination, creativity, and sense of adventure. Founded in 1969 at Stanford University, we produce and present music, theater, dance, spoken word, and multi-media events. We place a special focus on innovation and risk-taking, and through commissions and premieres are an incubator and destination for new work. Stanford Lively Arts plays a leading and collaborative role in the university's thriving vision of a sustained culture of creativity—one in which the arts integrate with the academic disciplines, flourish as a vital part of campus and community life, and inspire new perspectives on our lives and culture.

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