The Charles Mingus group of 1964 was one of his best, with two of his strongest musical soulmates—longtime drummer Dannie Richmond and reed virtuoso Eric Dolphy—stoking the fires along with elegant post-bopper Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, the lyrical Johnny Coles on trumpet, and stride-to-modern piano compendium Jaki Byard on the keys. It was a group that could successfully realize the totality of Mingus’ musical vision, in which the foundation of jazz’s earlier traditions met head-on with thorny modernism and the fiery soul of a turbulent personality. With this band, Mingus could express all of his intelligence, lust, sensitivity, pain, passion, anger, love, nostalgia and humor through the precise skill of seasoned musicians who could also push him in new directions.

This group was also his most extensively documented, even though it never hit the studio. Many of the 1964 tour’s concerts were recorded and released in editions both official and bootleg (there’s even a fine video of their Oslo concert available). If you’re wondering whether we need more, the answer is a resounding “yes,” especially when it’s a release like this two-disc set. This was a period when Mingus was performing lengthy, extended versions of his compositions, leaving ample room for improvisation from his players, so this Cornell set contains solos and collective playing that are markedly different from the Paris concert of a month later without Coles (sidelined by an illness). This is also one of the better-sounding recordings of this group, with overall good fidelity on the horns and Mingus’ protean bass and only minor flaws like occasional drop-outs and a thuddy bass drum. Any newly available Mingus and Dolphy is always welcome, and Cornell 1964 is one of their strongest sets and the jazz discovery of the year.