Rating: 
Summary: !Viva Mingus!
Review: I would have to say this movie is definately cool. although I wanted more concert footage. It was a good movie. VIVA MINGUS !
Rating:
Summary: Some great footage, decent interviews.
Review: If you're like me and you've already read the biography and autobiography, then most of this movie won't come as any big surprise. Still, there's some great concert footage and the interviews usually shed at least a little new light on the subject. For about an hour of mingus in concert, look for "Charles Mingus Sextet", recorded during the European tour with Dolphy, also from Shanachie Entertainment, currently on VHS.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but not informative or fascinating.
Review: Some good footage and anecdotes, but most of the commentary is extremely vague. I found too much emphasis was placed on repetetive interviews that merely state opinions held by the jazz world in general, and not enough footage was devoted to music. Some songs performed in their entirety would have been much preferred. Especially the call and response with Danny Richmond, which, although short, is almost reason enough to buy the video
Rating:
Summary: after viewing
Review: strictly raccomanded to everyone intends to play doublebass. After viewing, these are the possibilities:starting to play day and night; mumbling something like: uhm, it's not so good for me, after all. But I could start playng something else!
Rating: 
Summary: I highly recommend this video
Review: There are so many good things to say about this video. Let me start with saying that Mingus's "Epitaph" is covered in detail: both the 1962 Town Hall performance that was a disaster and the Gunther Schuller tribute perfomance made after Monk's death, are both amply covered including interviews with key musicians who played in both performances. One of the musicians interviewed had two of his front teeth knocked out when Mingus belted him in the mouth during an argument concerning who would do some of the orchestrations for "Epitaph". There are interviews with two of Mingus's wives, and towards the end there is an interview with one of Mingus's sons. I personally have read Mingus's wierd "autobiography" and that was a great help priming me to really enjoy this video. There are a lot of video clips of various concerts that Mingus gave, and these are valuable both because they show Mingus playing bass as well as conducting his own music. I was watching a bass player last night at Birdland on 44th Street in NYC, and I was very surprised to notice while watching this video today that the bass player, a young woman from Norway, was copying Mingus's style of plunking the lowest string to make a woody, vibratory sound. I recently heard the Charles Mingus sampler by Ken Burns and as a result of that CD was already beginning to develop a respect for the beauty of Mingus' distinctive compositional sound. This video helped me to better understand why Mingus has so many loyal fans. I am well on my way to becoming one of them. In summary, I think this video is very worthwhile. There are a *lot* of other good things about this video I have not even touched upon in this brief review. The people who made this video put a lot of thought and care and effort into making it.
Rating:
Summary: I highly recommend this video
Review: There are so many good things to say about this video. Let me start with saying that Mingus's "Epitaph" is covered in detail: both the 1962 Town Hall performance that was a disaster and the Gunther Schuller tribute perfomance made after Monk's death, are both amply covered including interviews with key musicians who played in both performances. One of the musicians interviewed had two of his front teeth knocked out when Mingus belted him in the mouth during an argument concerning who would do some of the orchestrations for "Epitaph". There are interviews with two of Mingus's wives, and towards the end there is an interview with one of Mingus's sons. I personally have read Mingus's wierd "autobiography" and that was a great help priming me to really enjoy this video. There are a lot of video clips of various concerts that Mingus gave, and these are valuable both because they show Mingus playing bass as well as conducting his own music. I was watching a bass player last night at Birdland on 44th Street in NYC, and I was very surprised to notice while watching this video today that the bass player, a young woman from Norway, was copying Mingus's style of plunking the lowest string to make a woody, vibratory sound. I recently heard the Charles Mingus sampler by Ken Burns and as a result of that CD was already beginning to develop a respect for the beauty of Mingus' distinctive compositional sound. This video helped me to better understand why Mingus has so many loyal fans. I am well on my way to becoming one of them. In summary, I think this video is very worthwhile. There are a *lot* of other good things about this video I have not even touched upon in this brief review. The people who made this video put a lot of thought and care and effort into making it.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant musician - very good composer.
Review: This documentary unapologetically has a mission: to elevate Charles Mingus' status to "great" composer. Whether he is or is not can be argued, but when compared with the likes of Duke Ellington who was unquestionably a great composer, he might move down just a notch. A "great" bass player? Unquestionably. Herein lies my complaint: not enough focus on Mingus the bass player. That being said, this documentary makes it clear that Mingus and music are one. The most introspective moments come in the form of home movies of Mingus sitting at the piano composing. One scene in particular has him playing "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" on an old upright to his daughter. Clearly this documentary was a work of love put together by those who revere his music and want to keep it alive. Make no mistake, the music is great and this documentary is a worthy effort.
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