“Mingus’ experiences have been steadily distilled into a group of compositions that for sheer melodic and rhythmic and structural originality may equal anything written in Western music in the past twenty years…These experiences have, as well, been reflected in his playing, which long ago elevated him to the virtuosic ranks of Picasso and Buddy Rich and Nureyev.” (Whitney Balliett, The New Yorker, 5.29.1971)