Presents CM is unmissable. The cool and deadly b-line funk of Folk Forms gives way to a New Orleans funeral march; the Original Faubus Fables is irresistible, knockabout antifa, straight to the head of a dingus; What Love showcases brilliant interplay between Mingus and Dolphy; All The Things rages freely about Mental Health.

Pre Bird is from 1960 but ostensibly before Mingus heard Charlie Parker.
A host of stellar players — including Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Max Roach, Marcus Belgrave, Slide Hampton, Yusef Lateef — in variously large ensembles, reading mostly tight, post-Duke scores.
It kicks off with a startling mash-up of Take the A Train, in the left channel, and Exactly Like You in the right. ( On the flip, Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me is likewise bundled with I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart.)
The great Mingus art songs Eclipse — hymning black-white relationships — and Weird Nightmare are here. Apparently vocalist Lorraine Cusson fluffed the last line of Nightmare — singing ‘Bring me a heart with a love of gold’ instead of ‘Bring me a love with a heart of gold’ — but Mingus was so happy with the take, he let it go.