In May 1959 at Columbia's 30th Street Studio, Charles Mingus recorded his major-label debut, Mingus Ah Um, whose title playfully conjugates his own name like a Latin adjective. This deep dive treats the album as an intentional audio autobiography, opening with "Better Git It in Your Soul," a 6/8 evocation of the Holiness churches of his childhood, and moving through tributes to his musical ancestors: "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" for the recently deceased Lester Young, "Open Letter to Duke" for Duke Ellington, and "Jelly Roll" for Jelly Roll Morton.

The episode breaks down the "avant-garde traditionalism" of "Boogie Stop Shuffle," the bird-mimicking prank of "Bird Calls," and "Self-Portrait in Three Colors," written for John Cassavetes's film Shadows but cut for budget reasons and wrapped instead in S. Neil Fujita's abstract cover art. It examines ...