Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (LP)

Having completed what he (and many critics) regarded as his masterpiece in The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Charles Mingus' next sessions for Impulse found him looking back over a long and fruitful career. Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is a type of "greatest hits revisited" record, as the bassist reworks some of his best-known tunes here. The titles are altered as well: for instance, "II B.S." is basically "Haitian Fight Song", while "Theme for Lester Young" is the well known "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." The 11-piece bands assembled here are among Mingus' finest, featuring some of the key personnel (Eric Dolphy, pianist Jaki Byard) that would make up the legendary quintet/ sextet with which Mingus toured Europe in 1964.