Sue Mingus brightens when she talks about bushwacking record pirates by confiscating their Charles Mingus releases and re-releasing them on her much touted label, Revenge Records. She lights up even more when she speaks of her work managing the Grammy nominated Charles Mingus Big Band (Live in Time - Dreyfus Jazz), and her future plans to create a Mostly Mingus Festival. When we meet, the cloudy noonday, the gray Hudson River view through her window and the winter chill do not dim the focus of this accidental keeper of the Mingus flame.

UD: The audience on a Thursday night at Fez under Time Cafe in Manhattan is notably young as are many MBB musicians. Why are young players and young audiences attracted to Mingus music now? SM: People are becoming more familiar with the music. It's not strange or unwelcoming, or unapproachable. We've been playing Time Cafe for six years now. And, then, Charles left a legacy of great variety. It has enormous spectrum. It is steeped in the blues, there is bebop, Dixieland, European classsical, there are Latin pieces. We have a pool of about 150 musicians drawn from the top musicians in New York, some of whom played with Charles and most of whom would have played with Charles had he been alive.... UD: If Charles Mingus walked into the club today and saw the band, what would be the first thing he would change? SM: I used to tell the musicians that he'd fire everybody. He was known for, even on the bandstand, firing musicians and then hiring them back. If the music wasn't being played properly, he'd do everything he could possibly do to get the music the way he wanted it, whether it was insult them, fire them, court them, flatter them, seduce them, scream at them. UD: And now? SM: I think Charles would be astonished and very warmed by what is taking place with his music. ... The great irony is that he would have loved the opportunity to have a place week after week to work out new compositions with a big band, to hear all the colors and harmonies. It is such a palette. It is the first time his music has been given a regular reading with this many instruments. It is one of the accidents of time. UD: How has your work with the Mingus Big Band changed the way we hear Mingus?

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