Charles Mingus, enigmatic bandleader, composer, and bassist, would’ve turned 100 in 2022. Mingus, who succumbed to Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1979, had a broad and fascinating career spanning four decades, collaborating with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Joni Mitchell. This centennial celebration will feature a wide array of his original music, equally influenced by the early jazz music of New Orleans, gospel, Ellington, western European classical, and jazz’s avant-garde.

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The UNCG Spartan Jazz Collective is a collaborative combo of faculty and students founded in 2012 to function in the mentorship tradition of the bands of Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and Horace Silver. Faculty members Steve Haines (bass), Thomas Heflin (trumpet), and Chad Eby (saxophone) mentor a rotating cast of students in bandleading, arranging, and rehearsal technique, while focusing on specific jazz artists for each semester. Previous artists studied have included Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Max Roach, and Billy Strayhorn, among many others.

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