One of the greatest composers in American history, Charles Mingus began his career as a bassist in the big band era, but by the mid-fifties he had developed into a jazz composer whose music eloquently expressed the intensity and fragility of a life lived close to the edge. With clips culled from a series of television performances, interviews from the sixties and seventies, and musings from those who knew him, this is a portrait of Mingus in all his shapes and guises. Shown with Nulle Sonne No Point (Nicolas Humbert, Werner Penzel, Germany, 1997, 36 mins), a poetic behind-the-scenes look at a rehearsal session of the Chicago Art Ensemble.