WHEN IT COMES TO HARDCORE
bebop bass cred, Charles Mingus is one
tough cat to beat. A prodigious and
adventurous composer, a bold and outspoken
social critic and jazz iconoclast,
and one hard-swinging mofo, Mingus
first became a fixture following his early
days touring with luminaries Louis Armstrong
and Lionel Hampton. He later
formed famously tumultuous partnerships
with Charlie Parker, Bud Powell,
and Max Roach, and ultimately formulated
ruthlessly rigorous curricula in his
legendary Jazz Workshops, forums that
served as launching pads for countless
young lions of jazz. Viewed by some as
Duke Ellington’s heir-apparent, Mingus
firmly embraced big-band settings,
scoring and arranging with an eye
towards collective improvisation (à la
Dixieland), all while attempting to elevate
the art of jazz to equal or surpass the status
of European-derived classical music.
Recorded March 12, 1957, “Haitian
Fight Song” stands out as one of Mingus’s
most enduring contributions. Though the
song was recorded with a humble 5-piece
band (bass, drums, piano, saxophone, and
trombone), Mingus’s clever round-like
melody lines and masterful dynamic direction
make it sound as if it were played by
a much larger group.
Example 1 shows the exotic-sounding
bass motif at the heart of the tune.
To get your ears around the tonality,
first play through a G Aeolian scale
(G–A–Bb–C–D–Eb–F). Now raise the
fourth scale degree (C) by a half step
to form an Aeolian #4 scale:
G–A–Bb–C# –D–Eb–F. That enlarged
interval between the 3rd and 4th
degrees, paired with the scrunched
half-step intervals between C# , D, and
Eb gives the scale its unique color.
After tapping out a tempo of 147 BPM
and swinging hard for a few bars, you’re
ready to tackle the tune. Take heed of all
those ghost-note G’s and really lay back—
that’s where the swing comes alive. And
of course, there’s that sweet quarter-note
triplet tag that rounds out the 12-bar form.
The trick is to milk bar 12’s Bb slide for
all it’s worth without missing the landing
on beat three.
Of course, this bass hook barely
scratches the surface of the 12-minute
masterwork that is “Haitian Fight Song.”
Take some time to study Mingus’s amazing
solos, both at the beginning of the tune
and in the middle, where he blows through
a staggering nine 12-bar choruses. It’s a
humbling lesson in soulful feel and technical
agility.
HEAR IT ON
Charles Mingus, The Clown
[Atlantic, 1957]
One of eight records released
by Mingus in 1957, The Clown
was the first to feature drummer Dannie Richmond,
who would remain Mingus’s rhythmsection
foil for the remainder of his career.
DIG DEEPER
On his album Cachaito [Asylum,
2001], Orlando “Cachaito”
Lopez uses “Haitian Fight
Song” as the central motif in
his “Tumbao No. 5 (Para Charlie Mingus).”
WHO KNEW?
The joint project of Mingus and folk
icon Joni Mitchell, Mitchell’s album
Mingus [Asylum, 1979] was the last
creative work to benefit from the
bassist/composer’s personal involvement.
(The disc features a phenomenal
band including Herbie Hancock,
Wayne Shorter, Peter Erskine, and
Jaco Pastorius.) As Mitchell writes in
the liner notes: “Charles Mingus, a
musical mystic, died in Mexico, January
5, 1979 at the age of 56. He was
cremated the next day. That same
day, 56 sperm whales beached themselves
on the Mexican coastline and
were removed by fire. These are the
coincidences that thrill my imagination.”