This up-tempo swinger has become the signature tune for the Mingus Big Band. It opens with a free-wheeling baritone sax solo and features raucous ensemble passages and group improvisations. You won't...
From the Mingus Big Band CD Live In Time, this is one of the most creative charts in the band's book. Don't be fooled by the apparent normal sounds at the beginning, as this multi-styled production nu...
One of the most engaging and lighthearted of all Mingus' compositions, this was originally meant to provide a musical bridge from Jelly Roll Morton to Mingus' own unique compositional voice. Here is a...
Titled in honor of Charles Mingus' good friend and mentor Oscar Pettiford, this swing chart opens with the two tenors, followed by all the saxes, and finally the entire ensemble. Whether you play this...
The unique genius and originality of Charles Mingus is nowhere more apparent than in this symphonic masterpiece adapted for big band by Sy Johnson. Involving no improvisation but rather a series of th...
This is probably Charles Mingus' best-known composition. Sy Johnson's updated chart is the authentic version as performed by the Mingus Big Band on the CD Blues and Politics.
Spreading the 'gospel of jazz' according to well-respected composer/arranger Sy Johnson, this medium slow shuffle chart features a distinctive personality and style. With lots of tutti ensemble procla...
Originally written for the 1959 John Cassavetes film Shadows, Nostalgia in Times Square is a medium tempo blues but with a unique harmonic structure. Beautifully scored for younger ensembles by Sy Joh...
From the Mingus Big Band CD Blues and Politics!, this intense minor blues opens with a bass solo then gradually unfolds layer by layer until the entire ensemble is screaming. Includes plenty of solo s...
