Search - Frank Lacy & Mingus Big Band :: Mingus Sings

Charles Mingus was a composer whose music spoke volumes without words. It was a rare thing to hear lyrics along with his highly wrought and incredibly emotive compositions, though Mingus had the heart of a poet, as can be seen in his song titles alone.

However, there were projects where Mingus added lyrics to his compositional voice, using either his poetry or that of others. On Ku-umba Frank Lacy and Mingus Big Band s Mingus Sings, the tremendous repertory ensemble directed by Mingus s widow, Sue Mingus, has recorded an album of pieces that put vocals front and center, led in part by the triumphant voice of Ku-umba Frank Lacy.

The tireless Sue Mingus introduced what would shortly become the Mingus Dynasty not long after the passing of the legendary bassist/composer in 1979. Eventually, the group evolved into two ensembles, the Dynasty and the Big Band, both of which Sue has led, allowing generations to enjoy and discover the music of her late husband.

In 1989, trombonist/trumpeter Frank Lacy joined the Mingus Big Band while it enjoyed a long residency at the Time Café (later Fez). His credentials were excellent as he had been the musical director for Art Blakey s Jazz Messengers and an important collaborator with many important voices in the New York jazz scene.

While on tour at the Nice Jazz Festival, Lacy was asked to lead a jam session at the hotel where the musicians were staying. In the midst of the session, he unveiled a talent then unknown to his band mates, his fantastic singing ability. With Lacy s vocal talent a secret no more, the band members informed Sue, and Lacy soon found himself performing vocal pieces with the Big Band.

Of course, Lacy hadn t been a stranger to singing. He grew up in Texas with a father who played blues and jazz guitar and, along with his love for the instrumental jazz heroes of the day, he loved soul singers like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Donny Hathaway. Lacy s singing career actually began in the 1970s before he attended Berklee College of Music as a member of an R&B band called Tampa Shades & Colfax.

The Mingus Big Band has long been one of the best repertory bands in jazz. The ensemble s quality is measured by the tremendous musicians who are involved from week to week. The group featured on Mingus Sings is exceptional and features trumpeters Alex Norris, Lew Soloff and Jack Walrath, trombonists Coleman Hughes, Conrad Herwig and Earl McIntyre, saxophonists Craig Handy, Wayne Escoffery, Alex Foster, Ronnie Cuber, Abraham Burton and Brandon Wright, bassists Boris Kozlov and Mike Richmond, pianists David Kikoski and Helen Sung and drummer Donald Edwards.

Of course, Mingus was best known as a composer, not a lyricist. He did write a number of pieces utilizing his own fine lyrics; four of them are presented here: Weird Nightmare, Eclipse, Duke Ellington s Sound of Love, and Portrait. The lyrics to the remainder of his pieces come from a handful of extraordinary talents. Four pieces come from Mingus s collaboration with the great singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, while two have lyrics written by rock and roll legend Elvis Costello. The poetry of Langston Hughes accompanies Consider Me from the 1958 recording, The Weary Blues , that Hughes made with Mingus