Mingus Mingus Mingus

Cobbled together from two 1963 sessions, this is one of Charles Mingus's stormiest recordings and a vital snapshot of his restless, expansive vision.

It opens with the blues-stained bass moan of II B.S., pushes into a faster vamp on Haitian Fight Song, and then tears into the blazing force of Hora Decubitus. These pieces come rushing out one after another with real urgency, full of speed, density and heat.

But there is plenty of colour and grace here too. Alongside all that fire are the lovely, richly shaded Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington, and Mingus's tribute to Lester Young, also known elsewhere as Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.

What really makes this a major document, though, is the presence of the larger ensemble, shaped by the late Jaki Byard on piano and led from the front by a formidable group of horn players, with Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin chief among them.