Item #6784 The Living Theatre Presents The Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop with Kenneth Patchen

The Living Theatre Presents The Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop with Kenneth Patchen

New York: The Living Theatre, ca. 1964. Offset. 8 ½ x 13 in. Near fine. Item #6784

Flyer promoting the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop with Kenneth Patchen, presented by the Living Theatre. The Jazz Workshop was Charles Mingus’ mid-sized ensemble of rotating musicians who toured and recorded with him. In this show, presented by the Living Theater, they performed alongside the influential poet Kenneth Patchen, who did not see fame in his lifetime due to his opposition to the United States involvement in World War II, but influenced the beat generation and his peers, Henry Miller and E.E. Cummings. This particular show was also part of Mingus’ experimentation with actors and poets performing alongisde his compositions and improvisations – a mode of performance he never felt he fully realized.

Charles Mingus founded his Jazz Workshop in the 1940s and originally saw the participation of musicians Art Blakey, Thelonius Monk, and Max Roach, among others. Mingus approach to the workshop broke new ground, as he was among the first band leaders to demand from his musicians spontaneity and independent explorations of his musical compositions. Due to its rigor and technical demands, the Workshop was referred to a “a university for jazz” amongst Mingus’ peers. After Mingus’ death in 1979, his wife Sue Mingus continued the mission to have Mingus’ music played by rotating sets of musicians; the Workshop continues to perform his music today.

Sold