Charles Mingus on Phil Elwood's Radio Show - 1965

Jazz Giant Charles Mingus was a fantastic composer, arranger, superb bass player, and one of the foremost influences on jazz musicians and jazz listeners. In this 1965 recording, he was a guest on Phil Elwood's Jazz Review radio program on KPFA in Berkeley, California. Phil Elwood was a music critic for the SF Examiner, a jazz historian, a college teacher, and of course a long-time jazz radio programmer. Dan McClosky was the engineer for this program and he has received permission from Phil's son, Josh Elwood, to post this radio program.
Check out Wikipedia for a detailed biography on Charles Mingus. Here is the opening segment from Wikipedia:
"Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 - January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history,[1] with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock. Mingus's work ranged from advanced bebop and avant-garde jazz with small and midsize ensembles - pioneering the post-bop style on seminal recordings like Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) and Mingus Ah Um (1959) - to progressive big band experiments such as The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)."
Mingus's compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition.[2] In 1993, the Library of Congress acquired Mingus's collected papers-including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos-in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library's history".
For your reference, KZbin has an excellent interview with Charles Mingus that was conducted by Nesuhi Ertegun from Atlantic Records. Here is the link:
• Charle Mingus Intervie...

[@Grosefrmchrchst]

Great interview from Mingus to listen to. My favorite Mingus album has to be Blues & Roots, but he has so many other albums you can say that about. An artist beyond category.

[@postatility9703]

This covers an important-if unfortunate-part of jazz history. Thank you for this,and thank God for Charles Mingus!

[@lorenschoenberg7486]

Wonderful document and kudos to Phil for going with Mingus.

[@myroncohen7619]

Beaver Harris!!Thank u Dan for posting this great interview!!Mingus was larger than life!

[@m____8345]

Thank you for sharing!

[@danmccloskyradiointerviews]

My pleasure!

[@essbo53]

Mingus cuts to the chase. Right off the bat. It cuts, even today. He spoke some truth. His comments on RVG were too funny. I started tuning in to Phil's show in 1969. I was 16 and lived in Sacramento. Much of my early jazz education came from Phil. One moment you have Louis Armstrong and the next you'd have Albert Ayler then some contemporary thing like The Fourth Way. What I loved was his openness to all eras of music. He set me on a good path.

[@danmccloskyradiointerviews]

You're right about Phil. He was a great music educator and taught me a lot about the many facets of jazz. I used to engineer many of his Jazz Archive radio shows (as well as his Sunday Jazz Review program), and it was a thrill to actually handle and play the jazz 78's that he featured. He was always helpful to me when I needed to access his amazing music library for a hard-to-get recordings.

[@monto39]

Mingus seemed like a scary dude. You can hear it in his voice. I heard a story that he had a trumpet player for a good while. He told him he wanted to leave to play for the orchestra of one of the major TV stations. Mingus blasted him in the face, busting his jaw badly. The guy couldn't play trumpet for a good year, so he never did take that job. I can't help but think it might have been planned that way when Mingus hit him. What a musician though!

[@danmccloskyradiointerviews]

He got fired from Dukes band for hitting someone. He was quick to anger. But what a brilliant composer. My favorite album of his is Mingus Ah Um.

[@monto39]

@@danmccloskyradiointerviews I'll have to check that out. I don't know his stuff really - I remember really digging Haitian Fight Song

[@mdsoulsounds]

Mingus was an original American classic. But a complex personality difficult at times to follow and understand like other black American artists who did not like to be boxed in by interviewers who really did not understand the underbelly culture of the music (jazz).

[@danmccloskyradiointerviews]

Good observation. He was a genius and a fantastic composer.