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Charles Mingus and the Paradoxical Aspects of Race as Reflected in His Life and Music by Ernest Aaron Horton Bachelor of Music, University of North Texas, 1998 Master of Arts, University of Pittsburgh, 2005 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2007 130 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Ernest Aaron Horton It was defended on March 19, 2007 and approved by Akin Euba, PhD, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music Laurence Glasco, PhD, Associate Professor of History Mathew Rosenblum, PhD, Professor of Music Dissertation Advisor: Nathan Davis, PhD, Professor of Music ii Copyright © by Ernest Aaron Horton 2007 iii Charles Mingus and the Paradoxical Aspects of Race as Reflected in His Life and Music Ernest Aaron Horton, MA University of Pittsburgh, 2007 Charles Mingus was a jazz icon who helped to redefine the barriers that were inherent for those whose artistic expression was labeled jazz. He was a master bassist in an expressive style that was forced to fight and claw its way to respectability; he crafted challenging and emotional performances in venues where the ring of the cash register competed with his music during performances; and he developed musical techniques that had an immediate impact on American music, though he was never invited to fill any academic post. These contradictions are all brought together in light of his status as a jazz icon. The term “jazz” represents a paradox because it is the word used to represent a musical style developed in the United States and closely, but not exclusively, tied to the African-American experience. This experience represents triumph, but it also represents many things that were painful and humiliating to all Americans. Any serious study of jazz must visit this paradox. Charles Mingus and the Paradoxical Aspects of Race as Reflected in His Life and Music examines these aspects of the history of jazz using specific parts of Mingus’s life and by analyzing and comparing some of his works. This dissertation will also examine the social pressures under which Mingus lived and that gave his work direction, and how this direction was expressed in his work. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE.................................................................................................................................XIII 1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 2.0 MINGUS’S EARLY PEERS, MENTORS, AND HEROES .................................... 8 2.1 CHARLES SR. AND MAMIE MINGUS .......................................................... 9 2.2 FARWELL TAYLOR....................................................................................... 12 2.3 SIMON RODIA ................................................................................................. 15 2.4 BRITT WOODMAN, BUDDY COLLETTE, AND OTHER LOS ANGELES AREA MUSICIANS........................................................................................................... 18 2.5 JELLY ROLL MORTON AND THE NEW ORLEANS INFLUENCE ...... 20 3.0 THE IMPACT OF MUSIC EDUCATION.............................................................. 22 3.1 THE MISEDUCATION OF CHARLES MINGUS........................................ 22 3.1.1 Mr. Arson..................................................................................................... 23 3.1.2 Signore Lippi ............................................................................................... 26 3.2 PREPERATION WITHOUT OPPORTUNITY............................................. 29 3.3 MINGUS’S JAZZ GENESIS............................................................................ 30 4.0 WORKING IN LOS ANGELES .............................................................................. 33 4.1 CENTRAL AVENUE........................................................................................ 33 4.1.1 The “Blackening” of Central Avenue ....................................................... 34 v 4.1.2 Containment and Pressure on Residents and Businesses........................ 36 4.2 THE SEGREGATED UNION.......................................................................... 37 5.0 THE TRANSITION TO THE NATIONAL STAGE.............................................. 40 5.1 MIXED OPPORTUNITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ............................. 40 5.2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BLACK AWARENESS .................................... 44 6.0 JAZZ AS A CONDUIT FOR BLACK PRIDE........................................................ 48 6.1 THE HARDSHIPS OF JAZZ........................................................................... 49 6.1.1 The Hardships of Jazz as Entertainment.................................................. 49 6.1.2 The Hardships of Jazz as Art..................................................................... 50 6.1.3 The Hardships of Jazz as Life.................................................................... 52 6.2 JAZZ AND POLITICS ..................................................................................... 54 6.2.1 The Shifting Philosophies of Jazz Musicians............................................ 55 6.2.2 Crow Jim...................................................................................................... 57 7.0 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEX AND RACE AS EXPRESSED THROUGH THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF CHARLES MINGUS.................................. 61 7.1 BENEATH THE UNDERDOG, FACT OR LITERATURE.......................... 61 7.2 THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SEX AND POWER IN MINGUS WRITING ........................................................................................................................... 63 7.2.1 The Symbolic Importance of Prostitution as Expressed in the Writing of Charles Mingus .......................................................................................................... 64 7.2.2 The Realities of Prostitution ...................................................................... 67 7.3 SEX POWER AS A FUNCTION OF MINGUS’S NARRATIVE OF HIS FAMILY HERITAGE ....................................................................................................... 70 vi 7.4 AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT MINGUS’S INTENDED NARRATIVE ........... 71 7.5 THE FINE LINE BETWEEN MINGUS AND “PIMPDOM” ...................... 73 7.6 INTERPRETING MINGUS’S USE OF SEX ................................................. 75 8.0 EARLY MUSICAL INFLUENCES OF CHARLES MINGUS............................. 78 8.1 THE INFLUENCE OF DUKE ELLINGTON................................................ 78 8.2 LOUIS JORDAN ............................................................................................... 81 8.2.1 An Analysis of Louis Jordan’s “Let the Good Times Roll”.................... 85 8.2.2 Comparing the Rhythm and Blues of Jordan and Mingus..................... 89 9.0 MINGUS’S MORE ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS...................................................... 96 9.1 MINGUS’S EARLY BIG BAND RECORDINGS.......................................... 96 9.2 MINGUS’S EARLY COMPOSITIONAL SENSE......................................... 98 9.3 MORE MUSICAL SYMBOLISM AS EXPRESSED THROUGH THE MUSIC OF CHARLES MINGUS .................................................................................. 102 10.0 MINGUS AND BEBOP ........................................................................................... 106 10.1 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MINGUS AND BEBOP MUSICIANS........... 106 10.2 THE CONTRAST BETWEEN SWING AND BOP..................................... 112 10.2.1 The Musical Conventions of Swing Using the Playing Style of Coleman Hawkins as a Baseline.............................................................................................. 113 10.3 THE CHANGING STANDARD, EXAMINING THE INNOVATIONS OF BEBOP THROUGH CHARLIE PARKER ................................................................... 119 10.3.1 The Dissemination of Bebop .................................................................... 132 11.0 MINGUS’S EARLY COMPOSITIONAL INFLUENCES .................................. 135 11.1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MINGUS’S MUSICAL CONCEPT............... 135 vii 11.2 STARS OF SWING ......................................................................................... 141 11.3 THE ENSEMBLE CONCEPT OF THE RED NORVO TRIO .................. 151 12.0 DEBUT RECORDS, MINGUS’S FIRST MAJOR MUSICAL STATEMENT. 156 12.1 DEBUT’S MOST RECOGNIZED RECORDING....................................... 157 12.1.1 Mingus’s Musical Ascension .................................................................... 157 12.1.2 The Place of Parker in Mingus’s Life and Music................................... 158 12.2 EARLY SIGNS OF MINGUS’S MUSICAL OPENNESS........................... 160 12.2.1 Konitz’s Significance on Debut................................................................ 161 12.2.2 The Place of Lennie Tristano in the Music of Charles Mingus ............ 162 12.2.3 Tristano’s Experiments ............................................................................ 163 13.0 THE COMPOSITIONAL INNOVATIONS OF THE FATHER OF AVANT- GARDE JAZZ........................................................................................................................... 167 13.1 “PITHECANTROPUS ERECTUS” AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE AVANT-GARDE 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