I always wanted to be a spontaneous composer.
In my music, I'm trying to play the truth of what I am.
Jazz is the language of the emotions.
I am Charles Mingus, half black man, not even white enough to pass for nothing but black. I am Charles Mingus, a famed jazzman, but not famed enough to make a living in this society.
My music is evidence of my souls will to live.
Most customers, by the time the musicians reach the second set, are to some extent inebriated. They don't care what you play anyway.