Charles Mingus was one of jazz’s greatest composers and arrangers, constructing pieces that combined the elegance of 1940s swing with raw, howling blues, juxtapositions and flourishes worthy of modern classical, and unfettered improvisation. In 1972, he finally got to work on a grand, Ellingtonian scale with this orchestral album. Pieces with titles like “The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife are Some Jiveass Slippers,” “Don’t Be Afraid, the Clown’s Afraid Too,” and “The I of Hurricane Sue,” the latter named for his wife, are sweeping musical landscapes with unexpected elements (the Spanish guitar in “Adagio Ma Non Troppo,” the use of circus sound effects in “Don’t Be Afraid…”) making it a truly epic exhibition of one man’s vast and indomitable vision.