Charles Mingus - TIjuana Moods (rec. 1957, rel. 1962)

A nice bit of summery Mingus, inspired by a trip to Tijuana and recorded in July-August 1957, but due to contractual/financial complications the recording went unreleased by RCA until five years later.  After a swinging opener in Dizzy Moods, inspired by the titular figure's Woody 'N You, the music starts to take a more explicitly Mexican turn with the castanet-led Ysabel's Table Dance for an exhilarating ten minutes.  

 

The album's second half kicks off with the brief but complex Tijuana Gift Shop with its memorable ducking and weaving melody, then another lengthy track follows.  Los Mariachis features Mingus calling out the way through a bluesy introduction (which will be returned to), then more Latin-inflected melodies and rhythms fill out the subsequent sections to give another highlight to the album.  To close, we get a gorgeous rendition of Ted Grouya's jazz standard Flamingo.  A cracking early Mingus album that deserves to be just as celebrated as its better-known siblings.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
Jazz Portraits: Mingus In Wonderland 
Oh Yeah  
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady  
Mingus Plays Piano  
Let My Children Hear Music

Mingus Moves
Changes One & Two
Cumbia & Jazz Fusion
plus:  

The Quintet: Jazz At Massey Hall
Blue Moods  
Money Jungle  
BBC Proms Tribute by Metropole Orkest