Jazz Giant Charles Mingus was a fantastic composer, arranger, superb bass player, and one of the foremost influences on jazz musicians and jazz listeners. In this 1965 recording, he was a guest on Phil Elwood's Jazz Review radio program on KPFA in Berkeley, California. Phil Elwood was a music critic for the SF Examiner, a jazz historian, a college teacher, and of course a long-time jazz radio programmer. Dan McClosky was the engineer for this program and he has received permission from Phil's son, Josh Elwood, to post this radio program.

Check out Wikipedia for a detailed biography on Charles Mingus. Here is the opening segment from Wikipedia:

"Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history,[1] with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock. Mingus's work ranged from advanced bebop and avant-garde jazz with small and midsize ensembles – pioneering the post-bop style on seminal recordings like Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) and Mingus Ah Um (1959) – to progressive big band experiments such as The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)."

Mingus's compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition.[2] In 1993, the Library of Congress acquired Mingus's collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library's history".

For your reference, YouTube has an excellent interview with Charles Mingus that was conducted by Nesuhi Ertegun from Atlantic Records. Here is the link:

   • Charle Mingus Interviewed by Nesuhi E...