Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods (Special Edition) (Music CD)

Charles Mingus has been quoted as saying that this is the best album he ever made, and that's recommendation enough. The second song alone, "Ysabel's Table Dance", is a brilliant blending of Latin rhythms and Mingus jazz that even the most casual listener will find entrancing--10-plus minutes of castanet-frenzied joy make one yearn to see what Mingus and his running buddies encountered in Mexico. (The bassist wrote that he took the trip to Tijuana "minus a wife" specifically to lose himself, and instead found music and sights to inspire a masterpiece.) "Los Mariachis (The Street Musicians)" manages to evoke both intimate moments with its unaccompanied solos and the enforced fun and bounce that street musicians must employ to earn their bread. "Dizzy Moods" doffs a cap to Dizzy Gillespie's own forays into Latin music, and the riff of "Tijuana Gift Shop" sets up a galloping tune that suggests the excitement a tourist feels in any authentic, potently exotic locale.