Concert Review: ‘Mingus Dynasty Septet'

Mingus Dynasty Septet Presents Charles Mingus

The Mingus Dynasty Septet performed on Friday, November 1, 2024, at UB’s Slee Hall as part of its Visiting Artist Series. The Septet’s personnel, the concert’s set list, and a Mingus discography are at the bottom of this review.

Mingus Dynasty Septet, November 1, 2024 at UB’s Slee Hall.

Charles Mingus is one of America’s greatest composers. He was of mixed race and his mother died when he was an infant. He grew up in Watts in the 1920s and 1930s and demonstrated virtuosity on the cello, but changed to the jazz bass as it was clear black musicians could not make a career in the racist world of classical music.

Frustration with Jim Crow America’s racism was a constant theme in Mingus’ body of work, as in “Fables of Faubus,” a protest song targeted at Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus.

In 1957 Faubus fanned the flames of hate when he created the “Little Rock Crisis” employing the National Guard to prevent nine African American teenagers from attending all-white Little Rock Central High School.