Mingus reloaded

"East Coasting," the Charles Mingus Bethlehem recording from 1957 just reissued by Shout! Factory, features a sextet that often sounds like a big band including Mingus stalwarts Danny Richmond on drums and Jimmy Knepper, who played with a lot of big bands, on trombone. The pianist is a young Bill Evans, before Miles, "Kind of Blue" and his own career as a leader. Other than "Memories of You," everything is a Mingus composition, a lot of them very bluesy. The playing is more conventional than, say, "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady," but it's excellent and pushes the envelope in places. The redone sound is great. Then again, I'd say just about anything by Mingus is great so decide for yourself.