Pre-Bird: Verve Acoustic Sounds: Vinyl LP

Label: Verve
Release Date: 29th September

An early collection of Charlie Mingus in his swing and hard bop era before he heard Charlie Parker and revolutionised his style. It's a document of a bassist leading big bands with some of the great players and in 'Take The A Train' an early experiment with mash-ups as one song plays in the left channel and one in the right. 

For this 1961 release, Mingus chose music composed before he heard the revolutionary playing of Charlie Parker. The album features large ensembles and includes two swing-era contrapuntal mash-ups, with one song playing out of the left channel and another from the right.