dougsahmVon Charles Mingus wusste ich bisher noch nicht, dass er einen Bezug hat, wenn dem überhaupt so ist. Meist werden Ray Charles und Miles Davis genannt. Von Sido weiß ich, dass er ein passabler Vereinsspieler wäre.
Aus Mingus‘ Autobiographie „Beneath the Underdog“ (Kapitel 34):
There was a boy sitting across the table from me, reading a book on mathematics – I could see the equations and symbols. I saw him walking around earlier that morning – very tall and gangly, sandy haired, only about eighteen years old. I later learned he was a champion chess player and spoke seven languages. He was a genius, I guess. His parents had him committed, he told me, but he didn’t say why. He didn’t seem to mind. He was quiet and good-natured and always busy doing something. When he saw me looking at him he asked if I wanted to play a game of chess and he brought out his board. I showed him what I had just wrote.
He looked very thoughtful, and said, „I don’t have time to hear everything, but I’m interested in music and keep abreast of what’s happening. It’s odd you say you haven’t been productive. It seems to me you have several – let’s see -“ and he counted in his head – „I’d say six or seven albums that came out last year. That isn’t bad.“ I was amazed, but he was right, and I realised last year seemed like ten years ago to me.
He checkmated me three times in a row, and I could see he was getting bored, so I went back to my bunk and tried to write some poetry. A good title came to my mind. „Nice Of You To Have Come To My Funeral.“
Der Junge, der später noch ein paarmal erwähnt wird, ist angeblich Bobby Fisher.
Robbie Robertson scheint diese Passage auf Hal Willners Mingus-Album zu rezitieren: „Canon (part 2) (includes ‚Playing Chess with Bobby Fischer In Bellevue Reverie‘ from Beneath the Underdog‘)“
--
"Don't play what the public want. You play what you want and let the public pick up on what you doin' -- even if it take them fifteen, twenty years." (Thelonious Monk) | Meine Sendungen auf Radio StoneFM: gypsy goes jazz, #160: Barre Phillips (1934-2024) - 11.2., 22:00 | Slow Drive to South Africa, #8: tba | No Problem Saloon, #30: tba