Charles Mingus

At the time of this performance, Charles Mingus fronted one of his strongest small bands (George Adams, Jack Walrath, Danny Richmond and Don Pullen) on a tour through four originals, as well as including Gerry Mulligan and Benny Bailey for a rousing blow-out on Duke's "Take the ‘A' Train." The camera work is tight and imaginative, the editing (what there is) is crisp and the sound, for the most part, is great. The one downside is that George Adams's sax is down in the mix for the first half of the video. Classic Mingus translated with joy and integrity onto video. (Eagle Rock, www.eaglerockent.com)