Mingus Ah Um

Pithecanthropus Erectus

By: Charles Giuliano - Oct 09, 2015

Mingus Ah Um

Gigs at the Jazz Workshop
Mingus arrived with
Drummer Danny Richman
Kids from Berklee
Pickup band
Week of rehearsals
Maybe something
By Saturday night
Now and then
Those amazing bass solos
Pithecanthropus Erectus
My favorite acid music
Next to
Sketches of Spain
Or Sargent Pepper
Those fading barking dogs
Totally wiggy
Always unpredictable
With a big band
Lincoln Center
Mingus got lost
Sheet music too confusing
Tossed it dramatically
Charged on
Head arrangement
Worked through mayhem
Or Boston Garden
Benefit for George Wein
After Newport was trashed
Aretha and Monk
Shoved Mingus on stage
With Dave Brubeck
Apples and oranges
Hilarious as Mingus
Cut Dave to pieces
Like Mozart improvising
A theme by Salieri
Long gone
At Tanglewood
Couple of years back
Gunther Schuller conducted
Reconstructed Mingus composition
Made perfect sense
Great soloists
Missed the funk
Mingus loved Duke
Who fired him
But always
Something else
Man