Charles Mingus discusses creating new music.

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Charles Mingus discusses his originality.

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Charles Mingus discusses artistic integrity versus commercial success.

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Q: “It seems now, as you mentioned, there are things more and more that people are doing now, that you’ve already done. You’ve done them years and years ago.”

A: Charles Mingus: “Yeah, because I talk too much, but you see, what Miles Davis came by the club 15 or 20 years ago, it's the Bohemian Club, Max Rhodes bar because they were making fun of what I was doing. I play one chord and what ... I play one chord for, you know, for the whole tune. This is just like he's doing today. He tried to ... he said, “Mingus, how you play one chord so long? That don’t make no sense. That's something, you just don't look technically evolved at all." But it is, he knows it now and the difference is I only played one tune like that, either Sibia [ph] or Love Chant. I played one tune a set where I have one chord. But now, most of the guys are doing it and that's all they do. They only play one chord. Each tune sounds alike. I mean, there is no variety. “

Interviewer: “Yeah.”

Charles Mingus: “That’s what my protest is against the guys who are using the pedal point. It’s not a protest. It’s just ... unfortunately RC Records [ph] didn't put my record out when I was doing it when they were playing beep-bop. Then on the second hand, a jazz writer came by. He works in Washington, D.C. now, a very prominent jazz writer. I can’t think of his name just now ... I'll name him before this thing is over. He came by and said, "Well, Charles, that's not new. This is what I'm first doing before Miles even heard it." He said, “General Martin did that.” Actually, I didn’t know that, you know, I didn’t know it. I thought it was completely different, you know. But if I think about it, Duke Ellington did it in some compositions, but he didn't just do that one thing. I protest because it’s not pure music, it’s not whole music. It’s just one phase of music. Miles comes up now and does one tune and doesn't stop and plays all that and he gets off. Because if everybody is still in the house, if everybody didn’t go home, he comes back and does another one with one note, you know. They all sound alike. You can’t fool me because I’m the one who started it.”