To say this is a follow-up to the Incarnations compilation (reviewed in Jazzwise 297) is to simplify a fairly complex story. Mingus’ contribution to the originally short-lived Candid label constituted initially of just two LPs (one of them the unmistakable classic Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus) plus a track on Candid’s compilation The Jazz Life and his session with Roy Eldridge for the Newport Rebels LP.

However, the mid-1980s reissues on Mosaic and the then-Alan-Bates-owned Candid revealed further unissued material including a long ‘Body And Soul’ with Eldridge and several Mingus-led tracks. By now remastering everything for LP-length programmes, the label’s present ownership have managed to stretch their Mingus holdings to five albums (and, to be fair, discovered one short new track on Incarnations, qv.)

This, then, is presumably the last of the current reissues and, while it may at first look like leftovers, the five tracks here all have their strengths. This October version of ‘Reincarnation Of A Lovebird’ (which I mistakenly described as a sextet performance in my abovementioned review) is actually by a 10-piece line-up and, with an out-of-tempo intro featuring Dolphy’s flute, is in some ways preferable to the version on Incarnations – although its final ensemble fades out, doubtless because of some musical misdemeanours. The standards ‘Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams’ and ‘Body And Soul’ are both alternate takes, with Eldridge first fronting a quartet and then a sextet including Dolphy and Knepper.

The other two items don’t overlap with any other current reissues, although ‘Vassarlean’ (originally on The Jazz Life) with its excellent Hillyer solo is based on the same tune Mingus previously titled ‘Weird Nightmare’ or ‘Smooch’, when recording with Miles. And ‘Melody From The Drums’, the nine-minute solo track by Dannie Richmond, is fascinating in both its varied structure and its execution.

Whether these 43 minutes make for a satisfying straight-through listen may be a personal choice, but there is much here worth checking out.