album · September 21, 1986

Mingus at Monterey

Charles Mingus

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FantasySee this day

jazzcool jazz

This posthumous 1986 release captures Charles Mingus in a 1973 performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival, offering a raw, unvarnished look at his live playing in his later years.

• The album was recorded live at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 16, 1973.
• It was released on Fantasy Records in 1986, several years after Mingus's death.
• The lineup for this performance included jazz heavyweights like George Adams and Dannie Richmond.

Charles Mingus was a bassist, composer, and bandleader, a central figure in the development of modern jazz. He was known for his innovative compositional structures and his passionate, often confrontational, performance style. At the time of "Mingus at Monterey," Mingus was in the final years of his recording career, having been diagnosed with ALS.