Epitaph is a composition by jazz musician Charles Mingus. It is 4,235 measures long, takes more than two hours to perform, and was only completely discovered during the cataloguing process after his death. With the help of a grant from the Ford Foundation, the score and instrumental parts were copied, and the work itself was premiered by a 30-piece orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller and produced by Mingus's widow, Sue, at Alice Tully Hall on June 3, 1989, 10 years after his death, and issued as a live album. It was performed again at several concerts in 2007. Accurately convinced that it would never be performed in his lifetime, Mingus called his work Epitaph declaring that it was written "for my tombstone." 1962 version There was one ill-fated attempt to record some of "Epitaph" during Mingus's lifetime, in New York City on October 12, 1962. The album The Complete Town Hall Concert (United Artists UAJ 14024) includes the tracks "Epitaph Pt. I" and "Epitaph Pt. II", as well as "Clark in the Dark", for trumpeter Clark Terry, who played in the band. The musicians included: Saxes and woodwinds Danny Bank (contrabass clarinet) Romeo Penque (oboe) Buddy Collette (alto saxophone) Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone) Charlie Mariano (alto saxophone) Charles McPherson (alto saxophone) George Berg (tenor saxophone) Zoot Sims (tenor saxophone) Jerome Richardson (baritone saxophone) Pepper Adams (baritone saxophone) Trumpets Eddie Armour Rolf Ericson Lonnie Hillyer Ernie Royal Clark Terry Richard Williams Snooky Young Trombones and tuba Eddie Bert Jimmy Cleveland Willie Dennis Quentin Jackson Britt Woodman Paul Faulise Rhythm section Warren Smith (vibraphone, percussion) Les Spann (guitar) Toshiko Akiyoshi (piano) Jaki Byard (piano) Charles Mingus (bass) Milt Hinton (bass) Dannie Richmond (drums) Grady Tate (percussion) A review by Bill Coss appeared in the December 6, 1962 edition of Down Beat titled "A Report of a Most Remarkable Event", and was reprinted in the January 2005 edition. The concert/recording was extremely disorganized. From the liner notes: "...this record represents a curious combination of open recording session and concert on a New York City Town Hall stage that held thirty musicians, two men still copying the music to be played, no play-back equipment, and a host of unbelievable tensions." From Martin Williams's review: "The occasion was supposed to have been a public recording date, but the producers' announcements and ads somehow came out reading 'concert.' At one point during the proceedings, Mingus shouted