Mingus Big Band at Jazz Standard

I asked him, Why me? He said, Its true there are a lot of players who play as good as you, others better than you, but you are a new face, a new name. Thats good for the group. Whenever theres a new name, people ask about it. I really thought that was extraordinary. He could have said to me, It would be good for you, playing with me will get you recognition, what have you. But he didnt. He was honest, straightahead honest. That impressed me so much I joined the group. Pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi on joining the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop in 1962. Quoted in Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus by Gene Santoro (Oxford University Press, 2000)...

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I asked him, Why me? He said, Its true there are a lot of players who play as good as you, others better than you, but you are a new face, a new name. Thats good for the group. Whenever theres a new name, people ask about it. I really thought that was extraordinary. He could have said to me, It would be good for you, playing with me will get you recognition, what have you. But he didnt. He was honest, straightahead honest. That impressed me so much I joined the group. Pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi on joining the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop in 1962. Quoted in Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus by Gene Santoro (Oxford University Press, 2000).

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