It is a crime 'gainst all humanity...

... that most people don't know even know Charles Mingus' name. A jazz bassist with no regard for any rule that didn't fit him, Mingus wasn't just a player or a band leader. He could have been a classical composer, had he not been a jazzman. He fused, jazz, classical, folk, flamenco, dance, church, ragtime, and swing together at random. He was the Frank Zappa of jazz, a composer who knew no bounds except what he was in his head.

Take a listen to The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady for an example. The second track features a section where a one chord vamp just keeps building and building in speed until it explodes, with a muted trumpet wailing like a singer. Even the solos are, in a way, composed by Mingus. His Jazz workshop helped mold most of the musicians he played with. Even if you don't like jazz (What the HELL is wrong with you?), pick up Mingus Ah Um or, if you are an adventurer, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.