Just two years before he went to the great chair in the sky Charles Mingus was still making the earth move for whoever was lucky enough to hear him. This high octane concert in Buenos Aires finds the bassist-composer-leader extraordinaire on inspired form, betraying no signs of road wear even though he was at the final stage of his race through life.

As was the case throughout his lengthy career Mingus had a band full of stalwarts and newbies, represented by evergreen drummer Dannie Richmond and tenor man on the rise Ricky Ford, while trumpeter Jack Walrath and little known pianist Robert Neloms rounded out the quintet well. The blend of power, if not fire, grace and sensitivity is inimitable with the leader’s own stint on solo piano catching the ear for his harmonic flights of fancy as well as melodic richness. Bridging hard bop and avant-garde, Mingus is imperious on what amounts to a kind of summation of his unique language. ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat;’ ‘Duke Ellington’s Sound Of Love’ and ‘Cumbia & Jazz Fusion’ are gloriously expressive.

And Might we rename ‘Fables Of Faubus’ ‘Fuckups Of Donald’ in this age of political skullduggery taken to staggering new heights (or rather, depths)? One can imagine what Charles is thinking right now.