Charles Mingus

American jazz double bass player and pianist, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist. Born April 22, 1922 in Nogales, Arizona, USA. Died January 5, 1979 in Cuernavaca, Mexico (aged 56). Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, he also pioneered in overdubbing and cutting-up/reassembling tapes of different takes in the studio to achieve the best version to put on record. He also authored an autobiographical novel called "Beneath The Underdog". He died from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease).