Charles Mingus did not perform on the final sessions he made for Atlantic toward the end of his life. Too ill with ALS to pick up his bass, he nonetheless was a powerful presence in the studio. The arrangements and orchestrations were realized by trumpeter
Jack Walrath based on
Mingus's tapes and piano sketches. The huge band can get a bit unwieldy, and the arrangements, which feature a solo from
Larry Coryell, do tend to pander a bit to the fusion audience. In spite of these drawbacks, the half-hour "Three Worlds of Drums" is great, overdone though it may be. ~ Stuart Kremsky