Charles Mingus - Cumbia & Jazz Fusion (1978)

Been filling some gaps in my Mingus listening lately, and this album stood out as a particularly satisfying oddity.  Consisting of two epic slabs of late Mingus, recorded a year apart, Cumbia & Jazz Fusion finds his late-period arrangements still wild, dense and exciting, inspired particularly by Colombian dance rhythms on the title track, hence the name.  Perhaps this is more of a 'let's release these long tracks together' compilation, rather than a proper album - think Big Fun by Miles Davis, perhaps; but like that collection, Cumbia is well worth having.

The second track was recorded first, in Rome in 1976, and was intended to be a film soundtrack for the Italian political satire Todo Modo.  In the end, the filmmakers went with Morricone instead, but luckily Mingus' score was saved for this album - it's well worth a listen in its own right.  Some sections show Mingus clearly working with soundtrack music in mind, and others are just great passages of classic Mingus jazz writing, augmenting his familar musicians of the time with Italian players.  The real treat, though, is the 28-minute title track from March 1977, with its insistent Latin rhythms (including a percussion solo) and a fun vocal section sung by Mingus.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
Oh Yeah
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Mingus Plays Piano
Let My Children Hear Music
plus:
Blue Moods
Money Jungle
BBC Proms Tribute by Metropole Orkest