I'd been listening to this off and on for years, but what really settled this album for me was right after the election of 2004, when Dan's "Wake for Democracy" ended with a police raid, and I got my groin patted down by a cop while guns aimed at me. Afterwards this album seemed to tell all sorts of related stories, and the night extended into fractal patterns of heartache and anger as Mingus worked in flamenco flourishes and somber orchestrations (never forgetting the occasional grim jest- one of the beauties of Mingus is that his sense of humor is never missing from his sense of tragedy). There are times when you don't hear music, you live within it, and that was one time.Anyhow, there are several Mingus albums that I'd want on a desert island, but I'm posting this one first.
