Charles Mingus’s albums usually moved through a variety of moods and styles; he was an ambitious and broad-minded composer who liked to explore. On this 1960 album, though, he put together a nine-piece band (four saxophones, two trombones, piano, bass and drums) and slammed out six pieces all deeply rooted in the blues, gospel, and soul music. The horn section blares and roars, drummer Dannie Richmond slams out the beat, and Mingus can be heard exhorting the musicians to ever greater heights from the back. On the ultra-raucous final track, “E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too,” pianist Horace Parlan is replaced by Mal Waldron, giving the music a little extra avant-garde clang without losing any of its hard-charging energy.

– Phil Freeman