To a great extent Columbia carried a cachet of respectability. The general public had greater trust in a label that offered the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra than in one that recorded only jazz. Miles Davis appreciated the value of that cachet and labored mightily to arrange his move from Prestige to Columbia. However, respectability comes with a price; and it did not take long for Mingus to confront that price. Tomorrow (May 5, 1959) is the anniversary of the first studio recording of "Fables of Faubus," named after one of the higher-profile segregationists in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement. As summarized in Charles Mingus: More Than a Fake Book:
Orval E. Faubus was a governor of Alabama who, in 1957, sent out the National Guard to prevent a few black children from entering Little Rock's Central High School.Mingus was so angry at Faubus that he wrote a text to go with his music, which he (sort of) sang with his drummer Dannie Richmond:
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em shoot us!
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em stab us!
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em tar and feather us!
Oh, Lord, no more swastikas!
Oh, Lord, no more Ku Klux Klan!
Name me somebody who's ridiculous, Dannie.
Governor Faubus!
Why is he so sick and ridiculous?
He won't permit integrated schools.
Then he's a fool!
Boo! Nazi Fascist supremists!
Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your evil plan)
Name me a handful that's ridiculous, Dannie Richmond.
—Faubus—Rockefeller—Eisenhower
Why are they so sick and ridiculous?
Two, four, six, eight: They brainwash and teach you hate
H-E-L-L-O—HelloThis was apparently too much for Columbia's "respectability;" and they refused to let Mingus and Richmond sing this text, which is probably why, when Mingus recorded the work again for Candid on October 20, 1960 and the text was included, he gave it the title "Original Faubus Fables" (my emphasis).
Mingus Dynasty was born on the occasion of a tribute concert given a few weeks after Mingus' death in 1979. The band consisted of those who had come to master the performance of Mingus' music by working with the master himself. Both Handy and Richmond were there, along with Jimmy Knepper, Ted Curson, Don Pullen, George Adams, and Charlie Haden. The band has changed hands many times over the following 30 years, and Handy's appearance was as much a celebration of the continuing life of Mingus Dynasty as it was of the 50-year-old records.
Most important, however, is that fidelity to Mingus himself is more critical than fidelity to any of the recordings. That meant that, for "Fables of Faubus," the words came to life as well as the music, in this case sung/declaimed by trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy. More than any other portion of last night's program, that performance elevated the occasion from gratuitous anniversary to a genuine honoring of Mingus' spirit, complete with all the raw nerves he was never afraid to touch.
Musicians like Handy learned that working with Mingus could involve coping with more freedom than one might have wanted. He told the audience that Mingus would withhold his charts of the underlying harmonic progressions. He was concerned that a priori documents of those progressions would interfere with the members of the band actually listening to each other, so he trained their ears by depriving them of the usual notations. Handy was still perfectly at home with that kind of freedom, as was Lacy. The younger members of the group may still be coming up to speed when it comes to matters such as placing the charts before the ears; but, with the benefit of veterans who can show them the way, they should eventually be the sort of performers Mingus wanted, after which they can serve as guides for the next generation of Mingus performers. Nothing would serve the memory of Mingus better than for Mingus Dynasty to evolve into such an ongoing legacy.
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