Charles Mingus Jr. Bio

Civil Rights Activist, Pianist, Guitarist, Songwriter (1922–1979)

Quick Facts
Name : Charles Mingus
Occupation : Civil Rights Activist, Pianist, Guitarist, Songwriter
Birth Date : April 22, 1922
Death Date : January 5, 1979
Place of Birth: Nogales, Arizona
Place of Death :Cuernavaca, Mexico
AKA : Charlie Mingus
Nickname: The Angry Man of Jazz Synopsis

African-American jazz musician Charles Mingus earned renown for his distinctive performances on bass and innovative work as a composer.

Quotes
“I’m going to keep on getting through and finding out the kind of man I am through my music. That’s the one place I can be free.”

—Charles Mingus

Synopsis

Jazz great Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona, and grew up in Los Angeles. The renowned bassist performed with such legends as Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, and earned acclaim for his work as a bandleader and recording artist. After struggling with depression, Mingus made a successful comeback in the 1970s. He died in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on January 5, 1979.

Early Life and Background

Charles Mingus Jr. was born on April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona. He was the third child of Army Sgt. Charles Sr., who came from African and Swedish ancestry, and Harriet, who had Chinese and African-American parents.

Mingus’s mother died shortly after his birth, when the family was living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Mingus and his two older sisters, Vivian and Grace, were raised by their stepmother, Mamie.

Interested in music as a child, Mingus initially picked up the trombone. Although he proved a talented cello player, he switched to the bass as a teenager, developing under the tutelage of musicians Red Callender and the classically trained Herman Rheinschagen.

Early Professional Career

Mingus played bass professionally with famous bandleaders Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory in the early 1940s. Later in the decade, he wrote and played for Lionel Hampton’s band and toured with Red Norvo’s trio.

Mingus settled in New York in 1951. There he worked as a sideman, recording and performing with other jazz legends such as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Miles Davis. After a few years, he formed an experimental musicians’ group called the Jazz Workshop.

As a soloist, Mingus was known for his rich and diverse combination of influences. He often mentioned African-American gospel music and jazz composer-pianist Duke Ellington as major sources of inspiration, and his work also drew upon New Orleans jazz, Mexican folk music, modern classical music and the work of Thelonious Monk. In his bass playing as well as his composition, Mingus favored complex rhythms, dissonant harmonies, and a mix of structure and free improvisation.

Mingus recorded more than 100 albums over the course of his career. One of his most popular short compositions is “Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat,” a tribute to jazz saxophonist Lester Young. His important and influential albums of the 1950s include Pithecanthropus Erectus, The Clown, Tijuana Moods, Mingus Ah Aum and Mingus Dynasty.

Late Career Troubles and Comeback,

In the early 1960s, Mingus performed regularly as a bandleader at clubs in New York and festivals around the country. However, he became known for erratic behavior both on and off the stage, and for fits of temper that sometimes ended in violence against fellow musicians or audience members.

By the end of the decade, Mingus was suffering from mental illness as well as financial difficulties. From 1967 to 1972, stricken with severe depression, he rarely appeared in public. However, he gradually recovered enough to make a comeback. Mingus was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition in 1971, and he renewed his activities as a recording artist and performer the following year, taking part in a tour of Europe and appearing at the Newport

On April 22, 1981, Brailsford Reese Brazeal, a pioneering African American economist and longtime dean of Morehouse College, passed away at the age of 76 in Atlanta, Georgia. A Morehouse graduate himself, Brazeal earned his Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University in 1942—one of the first Black scholars to do so. As a professor and dean at Morehouse for over 30 years, he helped shape generations of Black leaders during the Civil Rights era. His scholarship often addressed race, labor, and economics in the American South, and he worked closely with fellow educators like Benjamin Mays to build Morehouse into a powerhouse of Black academic excellence.

On April 22, 1981, the Joint Center for Political Studies reported a major milestone in Black political representation: 2,991 Black Americans held elective office across 45 states and the District of Columbia. This was a substantial increase from 2,621 in 1973 and just 1,185 in 1969. Among these officials were 108 Black mayors, reflecting growing civic leadership in urban centers. Notably, Michigan led the nation with 194 Black elected officials, closely followed by Mississippi with 191. This surge in Black political engagement followed the gains of the civil rights era and marked a foundational step in reshaping American governance at local, state, and national levels.

On April 22, 1978, reggae legend Bob Marley hosted the historic One Love Peace Concert at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Taking place amid intense political violence between the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), the concert aimed to promote peace and unity through music.

The event’s most unforgettable moment came when Marley brought political rivals Michael Manley (PNP) and Edward Seaga (JLP) onstage and joined their hands together — a powerful gesture of reconciliation witnessed by 32,000 attendees and the world. Marley, who had survived an assassination attempt just two years prior, risked his life to use music as a force for healing and national transformation.

On April 22, 1970, thousands of students at Yale University joined a growing national movement to protest in support of the Black Panther Party. The demonstrations were sparked by the upcoming trial of Bobby Seale and other Panthers accused in the death of Alex Rackley. Students, faculty, and activists rallied to challenge what they saw as systemic racial injustice and political targeting of Black leaders. The protests became a powerful moment in the broader intersection of student activism and civil rights advocacy in the 1970s.

On April 22, 1964, students at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, staged a bold sit-in by occupying the administration building to protest racial discrimination and inequality on campus. Sparked by a national wave of civil rights activism, the students demanded reforms including increased Black student admissions, more diverse faculty, and action against systemic bias in campus policies. The protest, though smaller than those at Southern universities, symbolized the nationwide student movement for racial equity in higher education.

On April 22, 1964, the opening day of the New York World’s Fair was met with mass civil rights demonstrations. In a bold protest against racial segregation and economic inequality, 294 demonstrators were arrested by the NYPD. Organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and other activists, the demonstration aimed to highlight hypocrisy in America’s celebration of “progress” while systemic racism remained deeply entrenched. The protest brought national attention to ongoing discrimination in housing, jobs, and education—issues the fair chose to ignore. It marked a pivotal moment in New York’s civil rights history, bridging activism, visibility, and resistance.

On April 22, 1950, Charles Hamilton Houston passed away at age 54 in Washington, D.C. Often referred to as “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow,” Houston was the chief architect of the NAACP’s legal strategy to dismantle racial segregation in the United States. As dean of Howard University Law School, he trained a generation of civil rights lawyers—including Thurgood Marshall—and laid the foundation for landmark cases like Brown v. Board of Education. His work methodically challenged segregation in education, housing, and public institutions, using the law as a powerful tool for racial justice.

On April 22, 1919, S.H. Love—a World War I veteran born in 1893 in Colt, Arkansas—was granted a U.S. patent for an improvement to military firearms. During his service in Europe, Love was known for his inventive thinking and even claimed to have passed along the concept for a draw-style theater curtain, a design still used today. While his curtain idea was never patented under his name, his recognized innovation in firearms technology marked a significant contribution by a Black American inventor during the postwar period. Love’s work is a testament to the often-overlooked ingenuity and service of African American soldiers in military history and invention.

On April 22, 1692, Mary Black, an enslaved Black woman in Salem, Massachusetts, was accused of witchcraft during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Despite the lack of credible evidence, Mary was arrested and jailed—her conviction driven more by racial prejudice and hysteria than any supposed sorcery. Unlike many others accused, Mary was not executed and was eventually released, possibly due to the intervention of her enslaver, Nathaniel Putnam, who defended her innocence. Her case reveals the intersection of racism, fear, and injustice in early American history, and highlights how Black individuals were vulnerable targets during moments of mass paranoia.

On April 22, 1966, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I made a historic visit to Jamaica, marking a turning point for the global Rastafari movement. Thousands of Rastafarians gathered at Kingston’s Palisadoes Airport, many seeing the emperor as a divine figure, the returned Messiah. The event became symbolic of Pan-African identity, Black spiritual consciousness, and resistance to colonialism. Selassie’s calm demeanor during the overwhelming reception helped legitimize the movement globally.