Jazz Experiments of Charles Mingus

These recordings, from December 1954 in New York, had originally been released on two 10-inch records under the title Jazzical Moods by Period Records. Put together as one program, though, these pieces still connect together seamlessly, energetically. The band featuring John LaPorta, Teo Macero and Clem DeRosa is simmering with intensity while also stretching out into savvy uses of space. It's another fine example of Mingus as band leader and composer. This stuff is early, but there's hardly a growing pain to be heard, just the development of a genius in jazz as he comes into full possession of his many talents, eccentricities, and oversized personality and zeal.