MIngus Speaks

[Mark Stryker]

This showed up out of the blue today at the office. Looks valuable. Based on many hours of post-1972 interviews. Straight oral history with supplemental interviews rather than synthesized. Coda: Book fell open to a photo of Mingus, Sonny Rollins (in tux) and Sue Mingus among the swells at Norman Mailer's 50th birthday party in 1973.

http://www.amazon.com/Mingus-Speaks-John-F-Goodman/dp/0520275233/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367953014&sr=8-1&keywords=mingus+speaks

[marcello]

I'm reading this now.

Some important and not so important dialogues, but I'm only half way through.

[Chuck Nessa]

Interesting but I have done enough Mingus study for a while.

[Christiern]

I recall Mingus asking me to pass the salt. I think (but I could be wrong here) that his exact words were:

"Got any salt over there?"

As I say,he might have worded it differently, but that was the gist of it.

Then, as he savored the last bite of his dessert, he beckoned the waiter over (we were on an Amtrak to Trenton), made a circular gesture at the table, and said, "Let's do that again."

Did anything like that make it into the book? If so, was it credited properly?

[Enterprise Server]

But is it worth buying and reading....?

[marcello]

Sure. It was worth the read. A little disjointed, a little bullshit, a little revealing and a little interesting.

[JSngry]

My copied arrived the other day. I got a few things ahead of it in the bathroom, but the dust jacket is really colorful in a nice way. The photo itself kinda gives me the chill of death, but...time to start getting used to that, probably, not gonna live forever myself, right?

[ValerieB]

I recall Mingus asking me to pass the salt. I think (but I could be wrong here) that his exact words were:

"Got any salt over there?"

As I say,he might have worded it differently, but that was the gist of it.

Then, as he savored the last bite of his dessert, he beckoned the waiter over (we were on an Amtrak to Trenton), made a circular gesture at the table, and said, "Let's do that again."

Did anything like that make it into the book? If so, was it credited properly?

Well, Chris, I recall Mingus telling me that we were going to be together in our next lives. do you think he's waiting for me?!? I don't want Sue to be mad at me! LOL!

[Swinger]

I'm still considering if I should buy this one

[Chuck Nessa]

My copied arrived the other day. I got a few things ahead of it in the bathroom, but the dust jacket is really colorful in a nice way. The photo itself kinda gives me the chill of death, but...time to start getting used to that, probably, not gonna live forever myself, right?

the majority of us die in the bathroom they say.

[JSngry]

Read the first half of this yesterday (had the time and couldn't stop), hope to finish it by the end of August (hope the time is there).

I love it, not because it's a "good book" or whatever, but just because it appears to capture Mingus in full ramblerant, and when that motherfucker rambleranted, it was gold, even when it was batshit crazy bullshit. Same thing with the side/supplemental interviews, especially with Sy Johnson and Bobby Jones, gold even when bullshit. And everybody blames Teo and Teo sees nothing to blame anybody for. Beautiful!

I mean, you can tell genius crazy from just crazy crazy, genius crazy always has a purpose and tells the truth, even if the stops along the way are sometimes wrong, in the end, you get to truth, and if you bail when the road stops at bullshit, that's where you're left, you don't get all the way.there, you bailed too soon and the joke's on you (as is the bullshit!) Crazy crazy just lands any damn where, there is no destination, no final point, just a lot of noise to prove to yourself that you're not deaf, which is good to know, but is there a book in that, at least one worth reading years after you're dead?.

Mingus was genius. Definitely a book in that.

[etherbored]

smells like jimmy smith- but that's a different thread....