The GRAMMY Award–winning Mingus Big Band kicks off another month of our long–running “Mingus Monday” residency honoring the life and music of jazz legend Charles Mingus (1922–1979). “Melodies were pouring out of him, in the gospel–jazz mode of ‘Haitian Fight Song.’ ‘Better Get It In Your Soul’ and ‘Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting’ shared the ecstatic roots and a 6/8 rhythm that made them intoxi­cating. He caught the ferocity of a Baptist church, its call and response, its canons, its rippling rhythms as the congregation strove for rough unison of individuals rather than unanimity. He remade these ingredi­ents into improvised intensity.” – From Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingusby Gene Santoro (2000, Oxford University Press)