Charles Mingus,
by Herb Snitzer
Its difficult not to think of that Volkswagen commercial as Charles Mingus reels off that familiar loop of bass notes 50 seconds into Haitian Fight Song, because the song does indeed feel like a car bearing down on the open road. But its much more than that. Mingus plucks alone, thoughtfully, for more than a minute, telling us this is serious business. At 1:04 a tambourine begins to shake, and at 1:10 Dannie Richmond first hits his cymbal and Jimmy Knepper begins blowing into the trombone. By 1:30 the groove is firmly established, and before the 2-minute mark the studio is erupting in celebratory squeals and bashes. And theres still 10 minutes left in the song! The tempo slows, the tempo speeds up, the tempo slows again and marches and finds its groove once more. Yeah, its got great songwriting and solos, but listen closely: Haitian Fight Song is also a complete narrative. One might even call it aural history.