Mingus Mingus Mingus

Cobbled from two sessions in 1963, this is one of Charles Mingus's stormiest recordings. From the blues-painted bass moaning that opens II BS, a faster vamp on Haitian Fight Song, to the blazing fire of Hora Decubitis, these tunes come furiously barreling out one after another. Speed and density aside, however, there are also multicolor, lovely tunes like Ellington's Mood Indigo and Mingus's paean to Lester Young (elsewhere dubbed Goodbye Porkpie Hat). More than anything, though, this is a major document thanks to the presence of the big ensemble, harmonized by the late Jaki Byard on piano and fronted by a herd of horn-players, Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin chief among them.