Charles Mingus

The Mingus Awareness Project performers include: Paul Hartsaw -- tenor saxophone, Nick Moran -- baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, Saalik Ziyad -- vocals, Jon Godston -- soprano saxophone, Dan Godston -- trumpet, Raphael Crawford -- trombone, Alex Wing -- upright bass, Steve Maxwell Jr. -- drums.

The evening’s program will include amazing songs such as “Goodbye Porkpie Hat,” “Better Get Hit in Your Soul,” "Pithecanthropus Erectus," and “Prayer for Passive Resistance.” Additionally, the musicians will perform songs by such notable artists as Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Eric Dolphy.

The performance will begin at 8 p.m. Admission for this event is $12 ($8 for students). Tickets can also be purchased in advance on this website for $10. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in a raffle for the chance to win concert tickets and other exciting prizes. All proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Les Turner ALS Foundation, located in Skokie, Ill.

Charles Mingus died in Mexico on January 5, 1979, and his ashes were scattered in the Ganges River in India. Both New York City and Washington, D.C. honored him posthumously with a "Charles Mingus Day." At a memorial following Mingus' death, Steve Schlesinger of the Guggenheim Foundation commented that Mingus was one of the few artists who received two grants and added: "I look forward to the day when we can transcend labels like jazz and acknowledge Charles Mingus as the major American composer that he is." The New Yorker wrote: "For sheer melodic and rhythmic and structural originality, his compositions may equal anything written in western music in the twentieth century."

Established in 1977, the Les Turner ALS Foundation is recognized internationally and is the only independent, publicly supported non-profit organization in the Chicago area dedicated solely to the treatment and elimination of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Foundation is affiliated with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine where it supports both clinical care and scientific research. The Les Turner ALS Foundation's services are available to all ALS patients and caregivers, regardless of where they receive their medical care. The Foundation’s comprehensive patient services include support group meetings, professional in-home consultation services, communications and durable medical equipment programs; respite care grants and many educational programs.

The Mingus Awareness Project 2 is being organized by the Borderbend Arts Collective. For more information about MAP2, please call 312.543.7027. For more information about the Les Turner ALS Foundation, please contact 847.679.3311 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.mingusawarenessproject.org/

www.velvetlounge.net

• Mingus Awareness Project 2
• Velvet Lounge
• 67 E. Cermak Road
• Chicago, IL 60616
• Wednesday, May 7 (8 p.m.)