BETTER GET HIT IN YOUR SOUL

Why Charles Mingus? by Kimberley Cooper 

Charles Mingus was a brilliant bassist, a prolific composer, and although few people know this, he was a great pianist as well.  There are many important characters in jazz, but it was his life and music that inspired me to create Better Get Hit in Your Soul in 2013. There is a grandeur to some of his music- like on the album The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, which is considered to be one of the most important albums of the last century, we dance to the 4th part of the recording. Another example is The Children’s Hour of Dream from Epitaph, both huge sweeping cinematic pieces, intimidating but inspiring to create dance to.  He also has other works that have a driving force and swing, less grand in scope yet so rich in how they are written and played.

Mingus was known as “the Angry Man of Jazz”. He picked fights with the audience if they weren’t paying attention to the band, he picked fights with the band if they weren’t playing as he wanted them to.  He wrote a wild autobiography called “Beneath the Underdog”.  His last wife wrote a book called “Tonight at Noon” named after one of his compositions, about him and their life together.  Both of these books plus numerous interviews, liner notes (he co-wrote the liner notes for The Black Saint with his clinical psychologist) and the folklore that surrounds him, helped shape Better Get Hit…

Better Get Hit…was originally performed at the Big Secret Theatre in Arts Commons, a much smaller space than we have now. It was 2013, DJD’s 30th season and my first creation as Artistic Director.  I wanted to have live music but due to lack of space, to save costs, to hear some of the amazing performances on Mingus’ recordings, and also to allow for some of his large scale compositions (he usually worked with at least 5 or 7 musicians) we decided on a trio. We also use some recordings, sometimes we even switch from live to recorded, or vice versa, mid tune.  The trio is bass- Rubim de Toledo, drums- Jonathan McCaslin and trombone- Carsten Rubeling.  The musicians also have some moments of physical interaction with the dancers during the piece.

Thing is, even if he wasn’t such a character, his music is so spectacular it just screamed to be danced to, it filled my head with images and movement.  It’s complicated music too, but there is so much soul and richness.  In creating this piece in 2013, I felt like I got smarter, my ear changed or rather the way I listened changed.  It was a profound experience and it is wonderful to re-visit the music and the work, and to see the way the music has sunken deeper into the bodies of the four dancers who were in the original cast.  To have these dancers (Catherine Hayward, Natasha Korney, Shayne Johnson and Kaleb Tekeste) help re-set it has been fantastic because they remember so many details and nuances.  I think Better Get Hit… is an important work, one of my more traditional pieces, but it still feels fresh and current.  Mingus was one of the most important composers of the 20th century, it feels sacred and important to create dance to his compositions.  He even has a supernova named after him.