Mingus Dynasty

Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus’ death in 1979, collaborating with his own sidemen to honor his life and work. Although Mingus was a iconic and trailblazing bassist, he always said he was first and foremost a composer, and left behind over 300 compositions that deserved to be played, so a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission. Today, four decades later, the powerful legacy of Mingus Music ignites bandstands while new generations of musicians add their individual voices and continue to celebrate and explore this rich and varied musical legacy. Mingus Dynasty is flexible in size, from the quintet tradition of Mingus Jazz Workshop-style to the more typical septet or octet, with arrangements by Jack Walrath, Jimmy Knepper, and current Mingus Big Band members who use their decades of experience playing in Mingus repertory bands to collectively arrange on the bandstand and express their unique musical personalities, for an exciting and authentically Mingus experience.
“Charles Mingus would be very proud of this band”
— Saxophonist Charles McPherson