DESCRIPTION:
My new youtube channel is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/phyuckyeu2
This was one of my favorite bands back in the early 90's. Back then I lived in the mission district of San Francisco, and I would walk down the street from my house to the Elbo Room on 17th and Valencia often to see amazing jazz. It started off with the Charlie Hunter Trio every tuesday evening. One night, Charlie called in sick. Dave Ellis made a few phone calls and got a few of his friends together from Berkeley High School to fill in for Charlie. The lineup that night was Miles Perkins, Troy Lampkins, Jay Lane and Dave Ellis. I'd like to personally thank my friend Henry Petras for calling me that evening and making sure I made it to the Elbo Room, to see this new band. That night was amazing, I have the soundboards to prove it. Since that night went over so well, Jungle Biskit became a band. Since Dave Ellis and Jay Lane were busy with the Charlie Hunter Trio, other people were found to round out the band. This is where other members of Mingus Amungus were brought into the fold. Martin was a member of Jungle Biskit and Mingus Amungus, Al Marshall the first drummer ( son of famed bay area drummer Eddie Marshall ) was a member of both bands, Joshi Marshall the sax player has a famous dad as well, bass player Fred Marshall from the Vince Guaraldi (think Charlie Brown albums) Band. Mingus Amungus had a female rapper that was also fucking amazing for a few years in the beginning. etc. So for a few glorious years, we had Charlie Hunter Trio on tuesdays, Mingus Amungus on friday or saturday, and Jungle Biskit on sundays. Weekends also could have any number of other bands playing there, maybe Groove Collective or Greyboy Allstars from out of town, or Broun Fellinis, Alphabet Soup, T.J. Kirk, Goapele, Leidisi, or one of my personal favorites Oranj Symphonette that did only Henry Mancini covers, with members of the bands P.J. Harvey and Tom Waits. The bay area had many hip-hop/jazz/funk bands back then. Fond memories of seeing Fungo Mungo, the Mo' Fessionals (where Caitlin in this video comes from), the Limbomaniacs, Primus etc. at the Omni in Oakland or Berkeley Square, DNA lounge etc. Fond memories of hanging out with this bands good friend Ben who I knew from college, Ben is the source for 'The Builder' that was a gift from god, it treated me well for many years.
The astute observers of the S.F. hip-hop/jazz scene know that almost all of the players in this scene were pilfered by Phil Lesh and Friends or Ratdog, Bob Weir's side project. The irony of course is they used to diss my love for the Grateful Dead like no tomorrow back in the day, and now most people know these players from their work with members of the Dead :) So Jay Lane from Charlie Hunter Trio went to Ratdog and Furthur, Kenny Brooks from Alphabet Soup went to Ratdog, Caitlin from this video and her friend Zoe Ellis (Dave Ellis' sister), both from the Mo'Fessionals, were on the Phil Lesh and Friends album 'Love Will See You Through', and did a few shows with him. The horn section of Mingus Amungus was used by Phil Lesh and Friends, as well as Ratdog, for a few years in the early 2000's, I think they did a few hundred shows together. Very fond memories of being lucky, and being down in Carmel by chance when Mingus Amungus and the Charlie Hunter Quartet were down there for the first Big Sur Jazz Festival in '95, so I got to see Mingus Amungus at the Carmel Cultural Center, Fernwood in Big Sur with Caitlin on guest vocals, and at the Big Sur Jazz Festival. That was an amazing weekend. Also a highlight was taking my parents to see the real leftover members of the Charles Mingus Band at the Herbst Theatre (I posted a Chucho Valdes show from that venue in my channel), and Mingus Amungus opened for them! I'm really happy to see Martin and Caitlin dating again, they were a good pair back in '95, and they are a great pair now. I think Martin is still a professor at S.F. State, I know the trombone player is a professor at U.C. Berkeley, but I haven't spoken to them in at least a decade. Please enjoy this great blast from my past.

http://www.mingusamungus.com

Other Mingus Amungus vids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyYceyOD_fU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9KqLV0M0F8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09xISwQ4U94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPgkfZgMtl4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8VD7ENZ0qs