Partly recorded at the same January 1963 session that yielded The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady, with five more tracks captured in September, this ferociously energetic album features retitled pieces from Mingus’s book (“Haitian Fight Song” is now “II B.S.”, “E’s Flat, Ah’s Flat Too” is now “Hora Decubitus,” “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” is now “Theme For Lester Young”) arranged for an 11-member ensemble jammed with screaming horns. But it’s not all wall-shakers; there are some lovely, swinging ballads here, too. “Theme For Lester Young” and an achingly melancholy version of Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo” are the perfect lead-in to the stomping “Hora Decubitus.”

– Phil Freeman