Mingus Dynasty at the Gem Theater

For one night, the music of one of America's most original composers comes home to 18th & Vine. *Mingus Dynasty* — the band Charles Mingus's widow, Sue Mingus, assembled to keep his work alive on the bandstand — takes the stage at the historic Gem Theater for a special benefit performance.

Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus's death in 1979, collaborating with his own sidemen to honor his life and work. Although Mingus was an iconic and trailblazing bassist, he always said he was first and foremost a composer, and he left behind over 300 compositions that deserved to be played — so a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission.

Today, four decades later, the powerful legacy of Mingus Music ignites bandstands as new generations of musicians add their individual voices and continue to celebrate and explore this rich and varied legacy. Mingus Dynasty is flexible in size — from the quintet tradition of the Mingus Jazz Workshop to the more typical septet or octet — with arrangements by Jack Walrath, Jimmy Knepper, and current Mingus Big Band members who draw on decades of experience in Mingus repertory bands to arrange collectively on the bandstand and express their own musical personalities, for an exciting and authentically Mingus experience.

This performance is a benefit for the American Jazz Museum's capital campaign — every ticket helps preserve and grow this home for jazz at 18th & Vine. Join us in the 500-seat Gem Theater for an unforgettable evening of music that changed American jazz.

The Gem Theater, 1615 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108. Friday, July 10, 2026 at 7:00 PM. Tickets $70.

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Host or Publisher American Jazz Museum