Mingus

This impressionistic, interpretive biography of Charles Mingus (1922–79), jazz giant and volatile personality, is visually dazzling. Episodes from the life of the multitalented (bassist, pianist, composer, writer) Mingus convey his creative process and emotional turmoil. One can almost hear the music while reading the panels. Squaz’s artwork is terrific (if a little boob-heavy), and the reimagined album covers are inspired. The text is impressionistic to the point of obscurity. Jazz-heads may take issue with the misspelling of Billie Holiday’s name (“Billy”), and others will puzzle over a section where the male musicians are listed as “the masters,” while Mingus’s wife Sue and musician/songwriter/Mingus collaborator Joni Mitchell are simply labelled “the women.” Especially transcendent are panels depicting Mingus’s ashes swirling in yellow, olive, white, and black. Also covered are the musician’s long friendship with jazz critic and writer Nat Hentoff; Mingus’s perhaps apocryphal appearance as an extra in a “jungle movie” where he wore a wristwatch; and his ill-fated collaboration with director John Cassavetes.