I'm too busy playing. When I'm playing I don't pay attention to who's listening. When I was listening I listened to symphony orchestras, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Stravinsky. You don't listen to one instrument; you listen to music. — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
Tastes are created by the business interests. How else can you explain the popularity of Al Hirt? — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
Whatever coast he's on, a man should be himself. I don't write in any particular idiom, I write Charles Mingus. — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
If someone has been escaping reality, I don't expect him to dig my music. — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
I've got a feeling that, if it's so easy for you, the struggle and the initiative are not as strong as they are for… — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
That sound in tune to you? Sounds sharp to me. Sounds like I'm playing sharp all the time. My singing teacher told us you should do that. Maybe I got it from her. She said singers when they grow old have a tendency to go flat. So if you sing sharp as a young person, as you get older and… — Charles Mingus Copy Share
Our nights didn't begin until after noon. Because in the old days, you'd start Birdland at 8:30 or 9 pm and play until 4 in the morning. Then you'd go out to the corner and talk to a couple of musicians - I used to talk to Oscar Pettiford a whole lot - you'd stand there till 7, 8 or… — Charles Mingus Copy Share
My son's a painter. All through school his teachers tell him he's a genius. I tell him to paint me an apple that looks… — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
“Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.” — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
I always thought that no matter what kind of work people did, they should involve themselves totally with all the discrimination they ran into. — Charles Mingus Copy Share Image
