East Coasting occupies a remarkable space in the discography of composer, bandleader, and musician Charles Mingus. Recorded the same year as (New) Tijuana Moods, an album Mingus said was his best, it featured most of the same musicians: trombonist Jimmy Knepper, saxophonist Shafi Hadi, trumpeter Clarence Shaw, and drummer Dannie Richmond. This same core group would remain in place as Mingus drove through one of the most inspired compositional periods of his career, including his celebrated Columbia albums Ah Um and Mingus Dynasty and culminating in perhaps his greatest compositional achievement, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady in 1963.

East Coasting is unique in that it also features the pianist Bill Evans, whom Mingus briefly employed. It was Evans’ last stop before joining Miles Davis for the classic Kind of Blue album. His ability to fit into Mingus’ compositions and the various moods they create here is on display here as is his already highly lyrical pianistic gift. In addition, he is able to fit into the rhythm section pocket, swinging in a tight way, and is able to shift gears into a more balladic mode at a moments’ notice. “West Coast Ghost” is a perfect example, offering just such juxtapositions. Here, as on other tracks on East Coasting, Evans also solos exceptionally, providing a veritable lexicon of Evans textures and colors that would form the basis of his classic later work.

Knepper, Shafi, and Shaw are all bold, highly individual players who are able to play bop and post-bop influenced styles, yet are able to link with the music’s past influences including the music of Duke Ellington, gospel, blues, and the traditional jazz of New Orleans. Indeed, these musicians, along with drummer Richmond are unique voices that Mingus knew how to utilize for maximum impact, just as Ellington knew how to uitilize the gifts of musicians such as Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Ray Nance, Clark Terry, and many others.

Mingus’ legacy as a composer has grown steadily since his death, and he is now considered one of jazz music’s truly great composers. Indeed, his compositional talents as well as his abilities as an arranger have finally begun to overtake his reputation as a bassist, bandleader, and colorful figure in the history of jazz. That is as it should be, and these talents are very much on display on East Coasting. Mingus’ work here is thoroughly his, displaying the unique personal stamp that caused Charles to once opine “Everything I do is Mingus.” The quick changes of tempo and mood within the same piece, the use of blues and gospel influences as well as instrumental colors and voices from earlier periods of jazz music, the programmatic aspect that informed so much of his work, the ability to make a sextet sound like a big band through his instrumental voicings: all these hallmarks of Mingus’ style as a composer are very much in evidence on this gem of an album.

This reissue, by Shout! Factory, includes two bonus tracks, alternate takes of the title track and the 1930s ballad “Memories of You.” Both are welcome additions to the album, which still clocks in at less than an hour of music. But the sheer quality of the music and the performances on East Coasting makes one grateful for the day when albums were more precise, more tightly programmed, and contained no extraneous music or versions that simply weren’t of the caliber of those that were actually released. This is a classic Mingus recording that most serious jazz fans will want in their collections.