19/04/2026
'The Angry Man of Jazz' is a lazy and unfair label often thrust upon one of jazz's true geniuses, but you can see where it came from...
As with many of the legends of jazz, stories of their life are shrouded in mystery and often exaggerated over the years of retelling.
One thing is for sure though: bassist Charles Mingus had a reputation for his quick temper and was known by some as "The Angry Man of Jazz"...
From chasing musicians off-stage to allegedly punching trombonist Jimmy Knepper in the mouth, perhaps the story of him smashing a $20,000 bass in response to a heckler at New York's Five Spot best sums it up!
Whatever the truth, I think we can all agree that the mind of Charles Mingus gave us some of the most memorable compositions and albums in all of jazz!
[📸 Tom Marcello, CC BY-SA 2.0*]
