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Mingus Awareness Project 2019

1/14/2019

Sunday, June 9th (7:30 p.m.)

Firehouse Theatre
1609 W. Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23220

1st set: Saint Mingus
(Reggie Pace / Suzi Fisher / Stefan Demetriadis / Giustino Riccio / Brian Jones)

2nd Set: Adam Larrabee + Jamal Millner

3rd Set: John D'earth / JC Kuhl / Calvin Brown / Mike Hawkins / Brian Jones

All music for the MAP RVA 2019 concert by (or inspired by) Charles Mingus, and all proceeds benefit the ALS Association.

Visit the Firehouse Theatre website for ticket sales, and visit www.mingusawarenessproject.org for more info.

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Tonight at Noon: Celebrating Charles Mingus' Life & Legacy at the Logan Center for the Arts

3/17/2014

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You're invited to come to this special performance event -- when we celebrate the life and legacy of Charles Mingus with music, poetry & visual art!

Friday, April 4 (8 p.m.)

Logan Center for the Arts
Performance Penthouse 901 (9th floor)
915 E. 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
phone: (773) 702-2787

$7 suggested donation

The great bassist and composer Charles Mingus was born 92 years ago, and we present this unique program of music and poetry in celebration of that great American genius' work & legacy. This program includes music composed by Mingus, songs by composers who worked with Mingus or were inspired by Mingus, poetry inspired by Mingus, and visual art inspired by Mingus!

Above: Mingus Awareness Project painting by Alpha Bruton, "After Better Get Hit in Your Soul" by Deborah Meadows, and Mingus Awareness Project concert poster image by Josh Josue

poster image designed by Josh Josue

1st set:
David Boykin -- reeds

2nd set:
poetry inspired by Charles Mingus

3rd set:
performance by the Míngtiāns
Jon Hey -- piano
Paul Hartsaw -- tenor saxophone
Jon Griffith -- saxophones
Dan Godston -- trumpet
Jon Godston -- soprano saxophone
Alex Wing -- upright bass
Damon Short -- drums

More about "Tonight at Noon":

The set list will include "Jelly Roll," "Better Get Hit in Your Soul," "Ecclusiastics," "Peggy's Blue Skylight," "Nostalgia in Times Square," "Haitian Fight Song," and other songs.
"portrait" by Steven Schroeder, "Into This Time" (for Charles Mingus) by Jayne Cortez, "Context of Champions" by Andrew Choate and "tonight at noon (mingus in tompkins square park / a free fugs concert -- 1960's)" by Steve Dalachinsky will be performed during the second set.
Artworks by Alpha Bruton, Deborah Meadows, and Josh Josue will be projected during the event.

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Interview with Damon Short

12/9/2013

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Damon Short is an excellent Chicago-based drummer, bandleader and composer who has been active in the Chicago area for more than 20 years. Here is an interview with Damon.

Note: This is being revised, check back soon for an updated version...

How did you first get interested in the arts?

Damon Short: I've wanted to play drums for as long as I can remember. When I was around 4 I'd take some Tinkertoy sticks and bang on the empty can in a tile-lined bathroom. Aside from being banished there by my parents because of the noise, it had a great echo effect. There were a few classical records around the house and my older brother was into early jazz when he was pretty young himself, so it was always around.

What is an early memory you have of doing something in the arts?

Damon Short: I played a drum set solo in 6th grade at a school event. It'd be funny to hear that now, but they didn't have YouTube back then.

Who are some of your influences?

Damon Short: I was fortunate to discover the progression of jazz in pretty much chronological order - most people encounter it at one period or another - bebop, the 60s, fusion, 'free' (dumb term), etc. - and work their way in either/both directions if they work their way at all. So I was aware of Gene Krupa & Jo Jones before I 'discovered' Max Roach, for example. So all of it informs what I do with my own music. Seeing Elvin Jones in person changed my entire approach to drumming; seeing Cecil Taylor changed my approach to music in general. As a composer... most of my pieces tend to reflect Mingus probably, but I'm certainly 'influenced' by Ellington, Braxton, Shorter, Gil Evans (who's truly a composer even if he's considered an 'arranger'), Harry Partch, Messiaen, Boulez, Bartok, Stravinsky, sometimes even Mahler.

photo credit: Kathy Short

What other projects have you been working on?

Damon Short: I've been doing a trio with trombonist Michael Vlatkovich (LA) and Jonathan Golove (cello). Vlat is a prolific composer and monster player; Jonathan is a terrific 'classical' player and composer in his own right, and a very creative improviser, which is a rare combination. The 'Tryyo' is playing Michael's music but there's plenty of room for each of us to transform the written material. I've also been playing in different groups directed by Paul Hartsaw (when he's not playing in my Quintet). Paul has great ideas and is also a formidable player. I enjoy all of these situations where I can be 'just the drummer'.

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Mingus Awareness Project 2013

7/8/2013

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Two Mingus Awareness Project concerts happen in Richmond, VA this month:

Sunday, July 21 (9 p.m.)
1st set: Jason Jenkins Quartet
2nd set: No BS! Brass Band

* * * *

Monday, July 22 (9 p.m.)
1st set: Brian Jones Guitar Quartet
2nd set: RVA Big Band

Balliceaux
203 N. Lombardy St.
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 355-3008

We're planning another Mingus Awareness Project concert in Chicago for the fall.

Congratulations to the No BS! Brass Band for the release of their new Fight Song: A Tribute to Charles Mingus CD. They've been promoting their new CD with a tour, and have been getting a lot of buzz -- with coverage in The Wall Street Journal, Paste Magazine, WBGO (88.3FM in Newark, NJ), and other media outlets. No BS! also released RVA All Day last month; check it out!

Check out the Borderbend media gallery for "Charles Mingus at 90," a year-long celebration of Charles Mingus' life and legacy that happened last year.

Stay tuned for more updates!

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Charles Mingus at 90

2/4/2012

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The jazz artist Charles Mingus (born on April 22, 1922) left behind an amazing legacy that includes a stellar catalog of compositions such as "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," "Better Get Hit in Your Soul," and "Fables of Faubus"; a career that included working with many musical greats such as Duke Ellington, Eric Dolphy, Dannie Richmond, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Max Roach, and Joni Mitchell; and approaches to the jazz idiom such as directions for big bands that have been indelibly etched into jazz vocabulary. *

Mingus would have been 90 this year, but sadly he died of ALS in 1979. Sue Graham Mingus, who met Charles in the early '60s, was married to him and took care of him throughout his illness. Tonight at Noon: A Love Story, Sue Mingus' eloquent memoir, contains many memorable anecdotes of her life with Mingus. Sue has been directing The Mingus Bands for more than 30 years, and also directs Mingus jazz education outreach in New York City.

The Borderbend Arts Collective has presented ten Charles Mingus-inspired concerts, including nine Mingus Awareness Project concerts in Chicago and Richmond, Virginia. Borderbend is planning special programming this year, in honor of Mingus' 90th birthday -- including the next Mingus Awareness Project concert which happens at Fitzgerald's on May 17th. More announcements will be made soon...

* Many excellent books about Mingus have been published. Check out Gene Santoro's Myself When I Am Real, Mingus' autobiography Beneath the Underdog, and Sue Mingus' Tonight at Noon.

pictured above: Mingus Awareness Project poster image designed by Josh Josue

Here are several recordings from Mingus Awareness Project concerts. Enjoy!

Here's an excerpt of Sue Graham Mingus reading from her memoir Tonight at Noon, during the Mingus Awareness Project concert at the Hideout in 2009 --

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Mingus Awareness Project 2019

Tonight at Noon: Celebrating Charles Mingus' Life & Legacy at the Logan Center for the Arts

Interview with Damon Short

Mingus Awareness Project 2013

Charles Mingus at 90

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