Release date: 15-11-2007 (originally released in 1959)

2007 UK limited edition 10-track 2-LP set pressed on 180gram VIRGIN VINYL - recorded on 1st & 13th November 1959, a watershed year for the eruptive bassist-composer. Leading what amounted to a repertory company comprising some of New York's most creative improvisers, Mingus musically challenged 2 ensembles as never before, includes 4 unedited recordings appearing for the 1st time on vinyl- Presented in sealed & stickered gatefold sleeve

Tracks:
01. Slop (unedited version)
02. Diane
03. Song With Orange (unedited version)
04. Gunslinging Bird (unedited version)
05. Things Ain’t What They Used To Be (unedited version)
06. Far Well Mill Valley
07. New Now Know How
08. Mood Indigo
09. Put Me In The Dungeon
10. Strollin’ (not on original LP)

Personnel :
Charles Mingus (bass); Booker Ervin, John Handy, Benny Golson (saxophones); Jerome Richardson (saxophone, flute); Donald Ellis, Dick Williams (trumpets); James Knepper (trombone); Maurice Brown, Seymour Barab (cello); Theodore Cohen (vibraphone); Roland Hanna (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums).

The fleet group that Charles Mingus brought to the Antibes jazz festival in 1960 was likely the most powerful group, pound-for-pound, that the bassist ever led. The front line was comprised of trumpeter Ted Curson, alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy, and, for this stint, tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin. Without a piano for most of this Antibes concert, the band relied on a combustion that Mingus created with his antiphonal compositions and a gospel bent. Dolphy, Curson, and Ervin sound jubilant on "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and then full of longing on "Prayer for Passive Resistance." But it's on "Folk Forms I" that you hear how much leap the group has without a formal harmonic anchor. Mingus chugs along, using his lowest-end bustle as a backbone for rhythmic variations across the top. As usual, drummer Dannie Richmond cracks the percussion with speed-shifting exactness. As if that all weren't enough, one of bebop's quirkier architects, Bud Powell, joins the band for a touching read of "I'll Remember April." --Andrew Bartlett
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