Throughout this period Mingus blossomed as a composer. His music is a volatile mixture of emotion and technique that owes a great deal to several sources—aspects of gospel music, blues “shouts
” and other African-American folk forms, the spirit of New Orleans' collective improvisation, and the Ellington ensemble sound. Though he was an enormously important, if sometimes difficult, bandleader and a talented bassist, Mingus permanently changed the language of jazz as a composer. Working through the...