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Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus Quotes

Bassist

Charles Mingus, born on April 22, 1922, was an influential jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader from the United States. His music style combined jazz, blues, classical music, and African rhythms, leaving a profound impact on the music world.

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Famous Charles Mingus Quotes

“In high school I was on the basketball team, but the coach did something I didn't dig and the next day he looked up and saw me practising with the football team.”

School Next Saws Team Football Basketball High School Coaches Next Day Football Team Basketball Team

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

Looks School Teacher Son Genius Paint Painter Apples My Son

Author:Charles Mingus

“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?”

Thinking Writing Years Play Happens Waiting Pieces Expression And Love Thirty Sincere Composer Thirty Years

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

Men Kind Emotion He Man Originals Musical Come Up Stupidity Admire Description Originality

Author:Charles Mingus

“My music is evidence of my souls will to live.”

Soul Music Is Evidence My Soul Will To Live

Author:Charles Mingus

“If you think this is weird, just look at yourselves.”

Ifs Thinking Looks

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

May Soul Play Causes Tomorrow Rain Supposed To Be Sunshine Charlie Summertime

Author:Charles Mingus

“In my music, I'm trying to play the truth of what I am.”

Trying Play Jazz Jazz Music Playing Jazz Jazz And Life

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

People Thinking Men Wells Made God Courses Black White Animal Tree Evolution Errors Fishes Sand Consideration White Man Gorillas

Author:Charles Mingus

“Our nights didn't begin until after noon. Because in the old days, you'd start Birdland at 8:30 or 9 pm and play until 4 in the morning. Then you'd go out to the corner and talk to a couple of musicians - I used to talk to Oscar Pettiford a whole lot - you'd stand there till 7, 8 or 9, or else go down to the jam session at Minton's.”

Play Whole Used Night Morning Couple Musician Corners Oscars Session Jam Old Days Noon Pms

Author:Charles Mingus

“Whatever coast he's on, a man should be himself. I don't write in any particular idiom, I write Charles Mingus.”

Men Should Writing Style Particular Coast Idiom

Author:Charles Mingus

“I always thought that no matter what kind of work people did, they should involve themselves totally with all the discrimination they ran into.”

People Should Kind Matter No Matter What Discrimination Ran

Author:Charles Mingus

“I was always doing revolutionary things, things that would alert people, so they would stop being so subservient.”

People Revolutionary Subservient

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

“Thelonius Monk went over to Bird and Bud Powell and said, 'I told you guys to act crazy, but I didn't tell you to fall in love with the act. You're really crazy now.'”

Said Guy Fall Music Crazy Bird Jazz Falling In Love Musical Monk Bud

Author:Charles Mingus

“I always wanted to be a spontaneous composer.”

Wanted Music Jazz Composer Spontaneous

Author:Charles Mingus

“Jazz music is a language of the emotions.”

Language Emotion Music Music Is Jazz Jazz Music

Author:Charles Mingus

“They're singing your praises while stealing your phrases.”

Music Singing Praise Jazz Stealing Phrases

Author:Charles Mingus

“Let my children have music! Let them hear live music.”

Children Music My Children Live Music

Author:Charles Mingus

“I'm trying to play the truth of what I am. The reason it's difficult is because I'm changing all the time.”

Trying Reason Play Difficult Music Jazz

Author:Charles Mingus

“Just because I'm playing jazz I don't forget about me. I play or write me, the way I feel, through jazz, or whatever.”

Way Feels Writing Play Forget Music Jazz Jazz Music Playing Jazz Forget About Me

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

Ifs Persons Feelings Strong Easy Struggle Initiative

Author:Charles Mingus

“Anybody can make the simple complecated. Creativity is making the complecated simple.”

Simple Creativity

Author:Charles Mingus

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace.”

“If Charlie Parker were a Gunslinger, There'd be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats”

Ifs Whole Charlie Gunslinger Copycats

Author:Charles Mingus

“I was born swinging and clapped my hands in church as a little boy, but I've grown up and I like to do things other than just swing. But blues can do more than just swing.”

Littles Hands Can Do Born Church Boys Swings Little Boys

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

Pay Attention Listening Instruments Jazz Busy Pay Attention Orchestra Listening To Music Symphony Too Busy Symphony Orchestras Brahms Stravinsky

Author:Charles Mingus

“That sound in tune to you?.. Sounds sharp to me. Sounds like I'm playing sharp all the time. My singing teacher told us you should do that. Maybe I got it from her. She said singers when they grow old have a tendency to go flat. So if you sing sharp as a young person, as you get older and go flat, you'll be in tune. In other words, it's never thought good to be flat. It means you can't get to the tone.”

Ifs Should Mean Persons Said Young Grows Sound Teacher Singing Jazz Singers Tendencies Tone Tunes Flats

Author:Charles Mingus

“Bach is how buildings got taller. It's how we got to the moon.”

Book:Mingus Speaks

Source: Mingus Speaks

“Jazz is the language of the emotions.”

Language Emotion Jazz Jazz Music

Author:Charles Mingus

“If someone has been escaping reality, I don't expect him to dig my music.”

Ifs Has Beens Reality Music Jazz Jazz Music Escaping

Author:Charles Mingus

“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.”

People Art Whole Young Enjoy Music Player Changed Genius Concepts Jazz Patterns Eras Swings Jazz Music Max Bud Dizzy Roaches Lester Young

Author:Charles Mingus

“Tastes are created by the business interests. How else can you explain the popularity of Al Hirt?”

Interest Taste Jazz Als Popularity

Author: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.”

Play Care Musician Jazz Don't Care Customers

Author:Charles Mingus

“Everything I do is Mingus.”

Author:Charles Mingus

“I am Charles Mingus, half black man, not even white enough to pass for nothing but black. I am Charles Mingus, a famed jazzman, but not famed enough to make a living in this society.”

Men Enough Black White Half Jazz This Society

Author:Charles Mingus

“Most of the soloists at Birdland had to wait for Parker's next record in order to find out what to play next. What will they do now?”

Play Order Next Waiting Records Jazz

Author:Charles Mingus

“It (jazz) isn't like it used to be. The guys aren't together. They're all separated. Individuals now. Bird was a symbol. It was a clique, a clique of people. Who all believed in one thing: gettin' high. And playin'.”

People Together Used Guy Individual One Thing Bird Jazz Used To Be Symbols Clique

Author:Charles Mingus

“I never heard my music played the way I heard it in my head.”

Author:Charles Mingus

“Making the complicated simple is true creativity.”

Simple Creativity Complicated

Author:Charles Mingus

About the Author

Born: April 22, 1922
Died: January 5, 1979
Known for: Bassist
Quotes: 41

Related Topics

Jazz Music Jazz Music Play Creativity Ifs People Simple Men Complicated

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Books & Sources

Mingus SpeaksRelated source material

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