Artist: Charles Mingus
Title: Tijuna Moods / Mingus Ah Um
Product Type: VINYL LP

Recorded in New York in 1957 (though not released until 1962), Tijuana Moods was, according to Mingus himself, "the best album I ever made." The music is a vigorous stew of Mexican rhythms and sophisticated post-Ellington arrangements, further invigorated by the soloing of trumpeter Clarence Shaw, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, and, particularly, saxophonist Shafi Hadi. Mingus's vision of Tijuana was clearly sensual, the music evoking strippers, frenetic street scenes, and heart-broken lovers. Making use of suitelike thematic material and various forms of counterpoint, the group sounds much larger than it is, and points toward Mingus's later experiments with form. The bristling sound and spirit of the music, however, are it's primary attractions-a remarkable place where Mexican fantasy and hard bop meet. The second disc consists of outtakes and a long-lost remnant of the original recording session, "A Colloquial Dream," a poem about jazz narrated by Lonnie Elder and set to programmatic music by Mingus. It's a worthy addition to his legacy, but Tijuana Moods is the highlight here. Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus, released in 1959 by Columbia Records. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S. Neil Fujita. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD calls this album "an extended tribute to ancestors" (and awards it one of their rare crowns), and Mingus's musical forebears figure largely throughout. "Better Git It In Your Soul" is inspired by gospel singing and preaching of the sort that Mingus would have heard as a child growing up in Watts, Los Angeles, California, while "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a reference (by way of his favored headgear) to saxophonist Lester Young (who had died shortly before the album was recorded). The origin and nature of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is self-explanatory: a twelve-bar blues with four themes and a boogie bass backing that passes from stop time to shuffle and back.

Tracks:
1.1 Dizzy Moods
1.2 Ysabel's Table Dance
1.3 Tijuana Gift Shop
2.1 Los Mariachis (The Street Musicians)
2.2 Flamingo / Bonus Track from Oh Yeah: Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me
3.1 Mingus Ah Um: Better Git It in Your Soul
3.2 Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
3.3 Boogie Stop Shuffle
3.4 Self-Portrait in Three Colors - Open Letter to Duke - Bird Calls
4.1 Fables of Faubus
4.2 Pussy Cat Dues
4.3 Jelly Roll / Bonus Track from Oh Yeah: Passions of a Man