Featuring two of Charles Mingus's last major works, the 1978 Cumbia & Jazz Fusion is typically ambitious and exciting. The 28-minute title track merges a winning theme played on reeds and Latin percussion, full-on big-band passages, and a burlesque of "Shortnin' Bread" that climaxes in cries of "Freedom! Freedom!" One of a kind, to be sure. "Todo Modo" covers nearly as much ground, moving between a gloomy theme and inspired upbeat passages with grand sax solos by George Adams. This CD edition adds two short takes of Mingus's solo piano on a medley of "The Wedding March" and his own "Slow Waltz." The maestro was to make only two more albums, but his physical decline is belied by the music's power. --Rickey Wright