Mingus Big Band

Thursday, October 20, 2022

7:30 PM

Wait Chapel

Mingus Big Band with Sue Mingus. Photo by Jimmy Katz

“The hippest big band in the universe – robust, earthy, sanctified.”

Time Out New York
  • About

    The Mingus Big Band celebrates the music of composer/bassist Charles Mingus, who died in 1979. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, this 14-piece band performed Thursday nights from 1991 to 2004 at Fez under Time Cafe in New York City. It maintained weekly performances in the city from May 2004 until October 2008, when it began “Mingus Mondays” at Jazz Standard where it alternated with the Mingus Orchestra and Mingus Dynasty. Mingus Mondays became a NYC institution and Monday night stronghold for over 11 years, halted only by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the treasured tradition continues at The Django in the beautiful Roxy Hotel. Mingus Big Band can be heard in prestigious venues of New York City, and around the world; the ensemble tours extensively in the United States and abroad, and has eleven recordings to its credit, six of which have been nominated for Grammys.

  • Program

    Program to be announced from the stage. Program may include compositions from the new Mingus Big Band album: The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions, including Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting.

    6:30 PM Pre-Concert Faculty Conversation featuring Patrick “9th Wonder” Douthit, Brenda Marie Osbey, and Corey D. B. Walker: On the Charles Mingus Centennial.

  • Listen

  • Tickets

    Click here to reserve seats using your WFU ID or to purchase community tickets

Additional events

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 4:00pm

POSTPONED – Blackness and Modernism: A public lecture with Brenda Marie Osbey

Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery, Scales Fine Arts Center

Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 8:00 -11:00pm

Matt Kendrick Trio – Jazz at Tate’s Downtown

Tate’s Craft Cocktails, 279 W. 4th Street

Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 4:00pm

POSTPONED – Literary Mingus: On Charles Mingus’ Beneath the Underdog

featuring Brenda Marie Osbey in conversation with Corey D. B. Walker

ZSR Library Auditorium


Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 6:30pm

On the Charles Mingus Centennial: A Pre-Concert Faculty Conversation featuring Patrick “9th Wonder” Douthit, Shanna Greene Benjamin, and Corey D. B. Walker 

Wait Chapel