Resurrecting Mingus and Hendrix: New Views - Review

What could jazz great Charles Mingus and rock icon Jimi Hendrix have in common, besides their undeniable musical genius? A new generation is rediscovering their work, and so is big business. In fact, two major automobile manufacturers are using Mingus and Hendrix compositions to promote new vehicles. Volkswagen is pushing its latest Jetta with Mingus' "II B.S.," and Hendrix's "Fire" has become the calling card for Pontiac's Firestar. Now the advertising exposure is accompanied by two videotapes: Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog (Shanachie, 1998) and Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys (MCA, 1999). From these documentaries, viewers will learn that the pair had more in common than their love of music and their 1990s marketability. Both felt that they didn't fit in, musically or culturally.

Although Charles Mingus was more vocal politically, he, like Jimi Hendrix, felt disconnected from the black community. In fact, before he died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1979 at age 56, Mingus' final instructions to his son (who was born of a white mother) were to remember that he was "no color."

Racism and labelism haunted the bandleader, bassist and composer. He didn't like his music to be described as "jazz." Doing that, he said, was like calling him "nigger." Although the Mingus documentary is fragmented and includes few interviews with the artist, its performance footage, one-on-one interviews with people who knew him, and candid, behind-the-scenes takes are worth the 78-minute viewing.

Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog begins with Mingus cursing his plight as an outsider: "I am Charles Mingus, half black man," he says, "not even white enough to pass for nothing but black. I am Charles Mingus, a famed jazzman, but not famed enough to make a living in this society."

He began life with an awareness of the world's complex racial boundaries. Mingus' father was the son of a Swedish woman and a black farmhand; his mother--who was of African-American and Chinese descent--died when he was 20 months old. The musician's childhood was blighted by the tumultuous relationship between his father and stepmother.

Despite the acclaim that resulted from his musical innovations and the success that attended his entrepreneurship (he launched two record labels--Debut and Charles Mingus Enterprises), Mingus led a troubled life. At one point, he was institutionalized for two months.

His wife, Sue Mingus, who co-produced the documentary, recalls the pivotal event. "One day he went to the park, got undressed and began tossing $100 bills to the wind," she says. His family was evicted from their Manhattan apartment and their furnishings were thrown into a garbage truck. Mingus then gave up on music until an invitation came to perform at a tribute to his idol Duke Ellington. The success of that event prompted his successful return to performing and recording.

The making of Triumph of the Underdog was not easy. Director Don McGlynn began the project in 1988, which explains why some of the interviews are dated. "The whole process took nine years to complete, from inception to the world premier screening at the London Film Festival in November 1997," says McGlynn. "I never had any idea just how difficult this documentary would be to produce. I had partial financing from a Scandinavian record company. Between 1989 and 1994, the documentary was almost financed a number of times, but it always fell apart.

"When I finally did find the financing, in 1994, I had to go through the extremely arduous process of obtaining the proper legal clearances for the various film clips I was able to track down. It took more than two years alone to negotiate, clear and secure the disparate footage."

McGlynn--the director of several music biographies, including The Mills Brothers Story (1986) and Dexter Gordon: More Than You Know (1996)--had for years been intrigued by Mingus' life. "Charles Mingus has long been one of my favorite musicians," McGlynn says. "I was lucky enough to have seen him live in the autumn of 1974. It still is one of the greatest concerts I have ever seen."

McGlynn was interested in capturing another side of the musician. "Mingus was a very complicated man," he says. "I wanted to show as many different aspects of his personality as possible. There have been a number of misinterpretations about him. His mythology and much of the press written about him during life stressed his volatile, violent and aggressive side.

"He had a great deal of humor, was very passionate and romantic, had great intellect and was very outspoken about various political issues, and he had a very strong moral sense."

Completed in 1997, the documentary was screened at more than 30 film festivals worldwide before its recent release on home video.

Jimi Hendrix, like Charles Mingus, seemed to communicate best through his music, using it as a tool. He often wondered why so few black people attended his performances. After all, many people considered the group he led from 1966 to 1969, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, international rock gods.

Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys, the 83-minute video that accompanies the new two-disc CD set, Jimi Hendrix: Live at the Fillmore East, explores the period when the guitarist, composer and singer formed the Band of Gypsys, a soulful trio that he thought would appeal to blacks. Hendrix created the group in 1969 for two reasons: to expand his audience, particularly among blacks, and to fulfill a shady record contract.

After disbanding the Experience, Hendrix called on army buddy Billy Cox, a Nashville session bassist, and drummer-vocalist Buddy Miles to form an all-black band. To create the album, two concerts were scheduled at New York's famed Fillmore East: one on New Year's Eve, 1969, and the second on New Year's Day, 1970. The sold-out performances were recorded live.

Although parts of the documentary may not be appreciated or understood by non-Hendrix fans, it reveals a segment of Hendrix's career that is often overlooked. And although the Band of Gypsys has often been dismissed as a mere rehearsal band, it marked Hendrix's notable rhythm-and-blues and funk period.

Helping to put the Band of Gypsys interlude in perspective are Soul Train's Don Cornelius, black radio disc jockey Frankie Crocker, rock and soul musician Lenny Kravitz, and musicians who worked with Hendrix. An interview that Dick Cavett conducted with Hendrix is also informative.

The reasons behind the band's breakup remain cloudy. Had the Gypsys been used just for that album fulfillment? Was Hendrix told to disband by management who wanted him to "reintegrate" his band? Was the concept simply not working? Was Hendrix ready to move on? The video leaves these questions unanswered.

"The public has been well educated about the Experience," says the documentary's executive producer, Jimi's younger sister Janie Hendrix. "The documentary was done to educate the fans, the public, about the Band of Gypsys." Janie, the president and chief executive officer of Experience Hendrix (which handles the music of Jimi Hendrix), is also the chief executive officer of Hendrix Records, a new record label.

"Hopefully, the viewers will come away with more knowledge," she adds, "more knowledge about the people who were involved then, an understanding of who Jimi was in their eyes, and a reminder to read every piece of paper before signing!"

Produced in conjunction with Apple/Awed Ltd. (the creative team behind the Beatles anthology), the documentary made its debut on the Public Broadcasting Service in March as an hourlong special and has since been aired worldwide. The MCA Home Video is a shortened, 83-minute version of the full-length film. Unlike the Mingus project, Band of Gypsys took less than eight months to complete.

The video project is part of a 10-year plan that the Hendrix family formulated in 1995 after gaining control of the estate, following 2 1/2 years of litigation. "Now we travel down the fourth year of our contract," Janie notes. "We have discovered that we have 20 years of music to deliver to the public.

"Jimi was a workaholic. We have a plethora of music. We plan to put out at least one new release a year, with accompanying videos where applicable, footage-wise."

On Father's Day, ALJAS Enterprises will publish My Son Jimi, a book by James "Al" Hendrix, the father of the guitar legend. Three hundred signed and numbered first-edition copies will be released, along with a color lithograph of one of the guitarist's artworks.

And besides the music entities, there's Authentic Hendrix (handling the marketing) and the Jimi Hendrix Family Foundation, an inner-city and Christian outreach organization.

The music of Charles Mingus and Jimi Hendrix lives on, not only through their recordings, but through these documentaries.

Ann Brown is a freelance writer in Los Angeles. Her last article for American Visions, "St. Clair Bourne, Chronicler of Heroes' Lives," appeared in the February/March 1999 issue. She is also a regular contributor to Black Enterprise.

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