Epitaph (Mingus)
Encyclopedia
Epitaph is a composition, and a live album, by jazz musician Charles Mingus
. It is over 4000 measures long, takes more than two hours to perform, and was only completely discovered during the cataloguing process after his death. With the help of a grant from the Ford Foundation
, the score and instrumental parts were copied, and the piece itself was premiered by a 30-piece orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller
. This concert was produced by Mingus' widow, Sue
, at Alice Tully Hall
on June 3, 1989, 10 years after his death, and again at several concerts in 2007.
wrote that Epitaph represents the first advance in jazz composition since Duke Ellington
's Black, Brown, and Beige
which was written in 1943. The New York Times
said it ranked with the "most memorable jazz events of the decade". Convinced that it would never be performed in his lifetime, Mingus called his work Epitaph declaring that he wrote it "for my tombstone." Conductor Gunther Schuller
said that Epitaph is "among the most important, prophetic, creative statement in the history of jazz.”
who played in the band. However, the endeavor never yielded a coherent whole like that achieved posthumously.
The musicians included:
Woodwinds
Trumpets
Trombones & Tuba
Rhythm Section
A review authored by Bill Coss subsequently appeared in the December 6, 1962 edition of Down Beat
magazine titled simply "A Report of a Most Remarkable Event" (this was subsequently reprinted in the January 2005 edition of Down Beat).
The concert/recording was incredibly disorganized. From the liner notes: "...this record represents a curious combination of open recording session and concert on a New York City Town Hall
stage that held thirty musicians, two men still copying the music to be played, no play-back equipment, and a host of unbelievable tensions."
From Martin Williams's review: "The occasion was supposed to have been a public recording date, but the producers' announcements and ads somehow came out reading 'concert.' At one point during the proceedings, Mingus shouted to his audience, advising, 'Get your money back!'"
From the Coss article:
The problems seem to have arisen because Mingus had piles of new music in his head, and wanted to stage an open rehearsal which United Artists and producer Alan Douglas
wanted to record and release. Then UA moved up the date five weeks, Mingus kept writing even newer music while rehearsals were underway, the musicians were unprepared (the Coss article suggests that in three previous rehearsals not one piece had been played all the way through), and the audience - most of whom were apparently expecting a fully rehearsed concert rather than a taping session with false starts, retakes and edit pieces - was flabbergasted.
, Montreal. He had been invited by Sue Mingus to catalogue a trunkful of Mingus's handwritten charts and in the process had discovered a vast assortment of orchestral pages written by Mingus with measures numbered consecutively well into the thousands. After some investigation, Homzy realized what it was that he had found and eventually managed to reassemble the Epitaph score. At that point Homzy and Sue Mingus got in touch with Gunther Schuller, who put together an all-star orchestra to play this very demanding piece of music. However, despite the stellar cast that was assembled, problems were again encountered. Thirty years earlier, charts were being copied in the wings before the show. This time, the charts were all computerized, but the software was buggy and again charts were being sight-read at the last minute.
This was no mean feat. Epitaph resembles many other Mingus compositions in level of difficulty. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis
, pointing at a passage in the score said, "That looks like something you would find in an Etude
Book... under 'Hard'." And conductor Gunther Schuller stated "The only comparison I've ever been able to find is the great iconoclastic American composer Charles Ives
." Despite all these challenges, however, the concert, at Alice Tully Hall in New York's Lincoln Centre in 1989, was a triumph, if ten years too late for Charles Mingus to enjoy it. The same personnel performed the piece two days later at the Wolf Trap Farm Park outside of Washington, DC. A double-CD was later released by Columbia/Sony Records. The concert was also filmed, and broadcast on U.K. television around 1990.
Woodwinds
Trumpets
Trombones & Tuba
Rhythm Section
The concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall
was broadcast by NPR and available online.
Woodwinds
Bassoon
Contrabass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpets
Trombones & Tuba
Rhythm Section
Piano
Bass
Drums
Vibraphone
Guitar
Percussion
Pop/Jazz; Reviving An 'Epitaph,' A Symphony By Mingus: Review By JON PARELES in the New York Times
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
. It is over 4000 measures long, takes more than two hours to perform, and was only completely discovered during the cataloguing process after his death. With the help of a grant from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, the score and instrumental parts were copied, and the piece itself was premiered by a 30-piece orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
. This concert was produced by Mingus' widow, Sue
Sue Mingus
Sue Graham Mingus is the widow of jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus.In 2002, Pantheon released Sue Mingus' memoir of her life with Mingus, entitled Tonight at Noon: a Love Story...
, at Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
on June 3, 1989, 10 years after his death, and again at several concerts in 2007.
Critical reception
The New YorkerThe New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
wrote that Epitaph represents the first advance in jazz composition since Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
's Black, Brown, and Beige
Black, Brown, and Beige
Black, Brown and Beige is a jazz symphony written by Duke Ellington for his first concert at Carnegie Hall, on January 23, 1943. Ellington introduced it at Carnegie Hall as "a tone parallel to the history of the Negro in America." It was Ellington's longest and most ambitious...
which was written in 1943. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said it ranked with the "most memorable jazz events of the decade". Convinced that it would never be performed in his lifetime, Mingus called his work Epitaph declaring that he wrote it "for my tombstone." Conductor Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
said that Epitaph is "among the most important, prophetic, creative statement in the history of jazz.”
1962 version
There was one ill-fated attempt to record some of this during Mingus's lifetime; a Town Hall concert on October 12, 1962. The title of the original album is Charles Mingus - Town Hall Concert (United Artists UAJ 14024) and has two tracks marked "Epitaph Pt. I" and "Epitaph Pt. II", and other tracks including "Clark in the Dark", for trumpeter Clark TerryClark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
who played in the band. However, the endeavor never yielded a coherent whole like that achieved posthumously.
The musicians included:
Woodwinds
- Pepper AdamsPepper AdamsPark Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
(baritone saxophone) - Danny BankDanny BankDaniel Bernard "Danny" Bank was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist. He is credited on some releases as Danny Banks....
(contrabass clarinet) - George Berg (tenor saxophone)
- Buddy ColletteBuddy ColletteWilliam Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
(alto saxophone) - Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
(alto saxophone) - Charlie MarianoCharlie MarianoCarmine Ugo Mariano was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Cologne, Germany.-Biography:Mariano was the son of Italian immigrants....
(alto saxophone) - Charles McPhersonCharles McPherson (musician)Charles McPherson is an American jazz alto saxophonist born in Joplin, Missouri and raised in Detroit, Michigan, most notable for his work from 1960-1972 with Charles Mingus....
(alto saxophone) - Romeo Penque (oboe)
- Jerome RichardsonJerome RichardsonJerome Richardson was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet and piccolo...
(baritone saxophone) - Zoot SimsZoot SimsJohn Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
(tenor saxophone)
Trumpets
- Eddie Armour
- Rolf EricsonRolf EricsonRolf Ericson was a Swedish jazz trumpeter. He also played the flugelhorn.- Early career :He moved to New York City in 1947 and in 1949 joined Charlie Barnet's big band and with Woody Herman in 1950...
- Lonnie Hilyer
- Ernie RoyalErnie RoyalErnest Andrew Royal was a jazz trumpeter.His older brother was clarinetist and alto saxophonist Marshal Royal, with whom he appears on the classic Ray Charles big band recording The Genius of Ray Charles .He began in Los Angeles as a member of Les Hite's Orchestra in 1937...
- Clark TerryClark TerryClark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
- Richard Williams
- Snooky YoungSnooky YoungEugene Edward "Snooky" Young was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.-Biography:...
Trombones & Tuba
- Eddie BertEddie BertEddie Bert is an American bebop jazz trombonist.His first job as a musician came in 1940 when he joined the Sam Donahue Orchestra, and then joined up with Red Norvo in 1941, later performing also with the bands of Stan Kenton and with Benny Goodman's bebop orchestra.He also recorded extensively as...
- Jimmy ClevelandJimmy ClevelandJimmy Cleveland was an American jazz trombone born in Wartrace, Tennessee.Cleveland worked with many well-known jazz musicians, including Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Quincy Jones, Lucky Thompson, Gigi Gryce, Oscar Peterson, Oscar Pettiford and James Brown...
- Willie DennisWillie DennisWillie Dennis was an American jazz trombonist known as a big band musician but was also an influential bebop soloist...
- Quentin JacksonQuentin JacksonQuentin "Butter" Jackson was an American jazz trombonist. In the early stage of his career he worked with Cab Calloway and was in the Duke Ellington Orchestra...
- Britt WoodmanBritt WoodmanBritt Woodman was a jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known for his work with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus....
- Paul Faulise (trombone)
Rhythm Section
- Warren SmithWarren SmithWarren Smith may refer to:*Warren Smith , golf professional, Cherry Hills Country Club*Warren Smith , American Rockabilly artist*Warren Smith , American jazz drummer...
(vibraphone, percussion) - Les Spann (guitar)
- Toshiko AkiyoshiToshiko Akiyoshiis a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer/arranger and bandleader. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best...
(piano) - Jaki ByardJaki ByardJaki Byard was an American jazz pianist and composer who also played trumpet and saxophone, among several other instruments. He was noteworthy for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz...
(piano) - Charles MingusCharles MingusCharles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
(bass) - Milt HintonMilt HintonMilton John "Milt" Hinton , "the dean of jazz bass players," was an American jazz double bassist and photographer. He was nicknamed "The Judge".-Biography:...
(bass) - Dannie RichmondDannie RichmondDannie Richmond was an American drummer who was best known among jazz fans for his work with Charles Mingus, and among pop fans for his work with Joe Cocker, Elton John and Mark-Almond....
(drums) - Grady TateGrady TateGrady Tate, , is a hard bop and soul-jazz drummer and singer.He has played with Lional Hampton, Jimmy Smith, Grant Green, Lena Horne, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Blossom Dearie, Chris Connor, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Cal Tjader, Peggy Lee, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Count...
(percussion)
A review authored by Bill Coss subsequently appeared in the December 6, 1962 edition of Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine titled simply "A Report of a Most Remarkable Event" (this was subsequently reprinted in the January 2005 edition of Down Beat).
The concert/recording was incredibly disorganized. From the liner notes: "...this record represents a curious combination of open recording session and concert on a New York City Town Hall
The Town Hall
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people.-History:...
stage that held thirty musicians, two men still copying the music to be played, no play-back equipment, and a host of unbelievable tensions."
From Martin Williams's review: "The occasion was supposed to have been a public recording date, but the producers' announcements and ads somehow came out reading 'concert.' At one point during the proceedings, Mingus shouted to his audience, advising, 'Get your money back!'"
From the Coss article:
The problems seem to have arisen because Mingus had piles of new music in his head, and wanted to stage an open rehearsal which United Artists and producer Alan Douglas
Alan Douglas (record producer)
Alan Douglas is an American record producer who has worked with Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Lenny Bruce and the Last Poets. He runs his own record label, Douglas Records....
wanted to record and release. Then UA moved up the date five weeks, Mingus kept writing even newer music while rehearsals were underway, the musicians were unprepared (the Coss article suggests that in three previous rehearsals not one piece had been played all the way through), and the audience - most of whom were apparently expecting a fully rehearsed concert rather than a taping session with false starts, retakes and edit pieces - was flabbergasted.
1989 version
After Mingus's death, the score to Epitaph was rediscovered by Andrew Homzy, director of the jazz program at Concordia UniversityConcordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
, Montreal. He had been invited by Sue Mingus to catalogue a trunkful of Mingus's handwritten charts and in the process had discovered a vast assortment of orchestral pages written by Mingus with measures numbered consecutively well into the thousands. After some investigation, Homzy realized what it was that he had found and eventually managed to reassemble the Epitaph score. At that point Homzy and Sue Mingus got in touch with Gunther Schuller, who put together an all-star orchestra to play this very demanding piece of music. However, despite the stellar cast that was assembled, problems were again encountered. Thirty years earlier, charts were being copied in the wings before the show. This time, the charts were all computerized, but the software was buggy and again charts were being sight-read at the last minute.
This was no mean feat. Epitaph resembles many other Mingus compositions in level of difficulty. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, pointing at a passage in the score said, "That looks like something you would find in an Etude
Étude
An étude , is an instrumental musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty, usually designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano...
Book... under 'Hard'." And conductor Gunther Schuller stated "The only comparison I've ever been able to find is the great iconoclastic American composer Charles Ives
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives was an American modernist composer. He is one of the first American composers of international renown, though Ives' music was largely ignored during his life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Over time, Ives came to be regarded as an "American Original"...
." Despite all these challenges, however, the concert, at Alice Tully Hall in New York's Lincoln Centre in 1989, was a triumph, if ten years too late for Charles Mingus to enjoy it. The same personnel performed the piece two days later at the Wolf Trap Farm Park outside of Washington, DC. A double-CD was later released by Columbia/Sony Records. The concert was also filmed, and broadcast on U.K. television around 1990.
Track listings
| Disc 1 | Disc 2 |
|---|---|
|
|
Personnel
Conductor- Gunther SchullerGunther SchullerGunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
Woodwinds
- George AdamsGeorge Adams (musician)George Rufus Adams was an American jazz musician who played tenor saxophone, flute and bass clarinet. He is best known for his work with Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Roy Haynes and in the quartet he co-led with pianist Don Pullen, featuring bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Dannie Richmond...
(tenor saxophone) - Phil Bodner (oboe, English horn, clarinet, tenor saxophone)
- John HandyJohn HandyJohn Richard Handy III is an American jazz alto saxophonist.-Biography:In the 1960s, Handy led several groups...
(clarinet, alto saxophone) - Dale Kleps (flute, contrabass clarinet)
- Michael Rabinowitz (bassoon, bass clarinet)
- Jerome RichardsonJerome RichardsonJerome Richardson was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet and piccolo...
(clarinet, alto saxophone) - Roger Rosenberg (piccolo, flute, clarinet, baritone saxophone)
- Gary SmulyanGary SmulyanGary Smulyan is a jazz musician who plays baritone saxophone. He studied at SUNY before working with Woody Herman...
(clarinet, baritone saxophone) - Bobby WatsonBobby WatsonBobby Watson is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role...
(clarinet, flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone)
Trumpets
- Randy BreckerRandy BreckerRandal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
- Wynton MarsalisWynton MarsalisWynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
- Lew SoloffLew SoloffLew Soloff is a jazz trumpeter, composer and actor. He studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School. He is likely best known for his work with Blood, Sweat & Tears from 1968 to 1973...
- Jack WalrathJack WalrathJack Walrath is an American post-bop jazz trumpeter and musical arranger known for his work with Ray Charles, Gary Peacock, Charles Mingus and Glenn Ferris, among others....
- Joe Wilder
- Snooky YoungSnooky YoungEugene Edward "Snooky" Young was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.-Biography:...
Trombones & Tuba
- Eddie BertEddie BertEddie Bert is an American bebop jazz trombonist.His first job as a musician came in 1940 when he joined the Sam Donahue Orchestra, and then joined up with Red Norvo in 1941, later performing also with the bands of Stan Kenton and with Benny Goodman's bebop orchestra.He also recorded extensively as...
- Sam Burtis
- Urbie GreenUrbie GreenUrban Clifford "Urbie" Green is an American jazz trombonist who toured with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle....
- David Taylor
- Britt WoodmanBritt WoodmanBritt Woodman was a jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known for his work with Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus....
- Paul Faulise (bass trombone)
- Don ButterfieldDon ButterfieldDon Butterfield was an American jazz and classical tuba player.-Biography:Butterfield took up tuba in high school. He wanted to play trumpet, but the band director assigned him to tuba instead. After serving in the U.S...
(tuba)
Rhythm Section
- Karl BergerKarl BergerKarl Hanns Berger is a musicologist with a PhD in Music Sociology, jazz composer, jazz vibraphone and piano player.-Biography:...
(vibraphone, cowbell) - John Abercrombie (guitar)
- Sir Roland HannaRoland HannaRoland Hanna was an American Jazz pianist.Hanna studied classical piano as a boy, but was strongly interested in jazz. This increased after his time in military service.He studied at Eastman School of Music and Juilliard School...
(piano) - John HicksJohn Hicks (jazz pianist)John Josephus Hicks, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer, active in the New York and the international jazz scene from the mid-1960s.-Biography:...
(piano) - Reggie Johnson (bass)
- Ed Schuller (bass, guiro)
- Victor Lewis (drums)
- Daniel Druckman (percussion, tumba)
2007 version
Let My Children Hear Music again presented Epitaph in 2007, including new sections discovered since the 1989 premiere.- Wed, Apr. 25 2007 Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York. Hosted by Bill Cosby.
- Fri, Apr. 27 2007 8pm Tri-C Jazz Festival Cleveland, OH
- Wed, May. 16 2007 8pm Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles CA
- Fri, May. 18 2007 8pm Symphony Center Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chicago, IL
The concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
was broadcast by NPR and available online.
Personnel
Conductor- Gunther SchullerGunther SchullerGunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
Woodwinds
Bassoon
- Michael Rabinowitz
Contrabass Clarinet
- Douglas Yates
Alto Saxophone
- Craig HandyCraig HandyCraig Mitchell Handy is an American post-bop tenor saxophonist.Born in Oakland, California, Handy attended North Texas State University from 1981 to 1984, and following this played with Art Blakey, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Haynes, Abdullah Ibrahim, Elvin Jones, Joe Henderson, Betty Carter, George...
- Steve SlagleSteve SlagleSteve Slagle is an American jazz saxophonist.Slagle was born in Los Angeles and grew up in suburban Philadelphia. he received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. He came to New York in 1976, playing with Machito and his Afro-Cuban orchestra, and played successively with Ray Barretto,...
- Abraham Burton
Tenor Saxophone
- Kathy Halvorson
- Wayne EscofferyWayne EscofferyWayne Escoffery is a jazz saxophonist based in New York City.-Performing history:Since 2000 he has been working in New York City with Carl Allen, Eric Reed, and the Charles Mingus Big Band. Other musicians performed with include Ralph Peterson, Ben Riley, Ron Carter, Rufus Reid, Bill Charlap,...
Baritone Saxophone
- Ronnie CuberRonnie CuberRonnie Cuber is a jazz saxophonist. He has also played in Latin, pop, rock and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he has also played tenor sax, soprano sax and flute, the latter on an album by Eddie Palmieri. As a leader, Cuber is known for hard bop and Latin jazz...
- Lauren Sevian
Trumpets
- Ryan KisorRyan KisorRyan Kisor is an American jazz trumpeter.A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Kisor learned trumpet from his father Larry Kisor and started playing in a local dance band at age ten. Kisor began classical trumpet lessons at age 12, met Clark Terry when he was 15 , and played with all-star high school bands...
- Walter White
- Jack WalrathJack WalrathJack Walrath is an American post-bop jazz trumpeter and musical arranger known for his work with Ray Charles, Gary Peacock, Charles Mingus and Glenn Ferris, among others....
- Dave Ballou
- Alex SipiaginAlex SipiaginAlex "Sasha" Sipiagin is a jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player.-Biography:Alex moved from Russia to the U.S. in 1991 and began his career shortly thereafter. His first gigs in the U.S. were with the Gil Evans Band and George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band. He has played with Dave Holland, Mingus Big...
- Kenny Rampton
Trombones & Tuba
- Sam Burtis
- Ku-umba Frank Lacy
- Andre Hayward
- Conrad HerwigConrad HerwigConrad Herwig is a jazz trombonist from New York City in the United States. He has recorded 20 albums as a leader.-Biography:He began his career in Clark Terry's band in the early 1980s and has been a featured member in the Joe Henderson Sextet, Tom Harrell’s Septet and Big Band, and the Joe...
- Earl McIntyre
- Dave Taylor
- Howard JohnsonHoward Johnson (jazz musician)Howard Lewis Johnson in Montgomery, Alabama, is an American jazz musician known mainly for his work on tuba and baritone saxophone, although he also plays the bass clarinet, trumpet and other reed instruments....
Rhythm Section
Piano
- Kenny Drew Jr.
- George ColliganGeorge ColliganGeorge Colligan is a New York-based jazz pianist, organist, drummer, trumpet player, educator, composer and bandleader. He was born in New Jersey, and raised in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the Peabody Institute, majoring in classical trumpet and music education...
Bass
- Boris Kozlov
- Christian McBrideChristian McBrideChristian McBride is an American jazz bassist. His father, Lee Smith, and his great uncle, Howard Cooper, are well known Philadelphia bassists who served as McBride's early mentors...
Drums
- Johnathan Blake
Vibraphone
- Christos Rafalides
Guitar
- Jack WilkinsJack WilkinsJack Wilkins is a guitarist born on June 3, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York. He has played with many jazz greats including Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Heath, Epitaph , and bassist Eddie Gomez, as well as with singers Mel Tormé, Ray Charles, Morgana King, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, The Manhattan...
Percussion
- Mark Belair
- David Nyberg
Score
In 2008, the full score of Epitaph was published by Let My Children Hear Music, Inc (The Charles Mingus Institute), distributed by Hal Leonard.External links
- John Sobol, "Meeting the Underdog" – in-depth personal memoir of Epitaphs recreation, by John Sobol, a jazz critic who was at the rehearsals and show
- Official site
Pop/Jazz; Reviving An 'Epitaph,' A Symphony By Mingus: Review By JON PARELES in the New York Times