WSJ Review of Mingus at Monterey

Mingus followed with two ambitious compositions of his own: "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk," marked by quicksilver shifts of mood and tempo; and "Meditations on Integration," for which he expanded his ensemble to a dozen players. Mingus had given the latter piece its premiere six months earlier, and it grew into a highlight on tour that year. It is a masterpiece, meant as both a civil-rights era protest and a prayer for peace. This nearly 25-minute expanded version-which brought the Monterey crowd to its feet-weaves together scored and improvised material as well as melodic and atonal elements and is, by turns, pious, pent-up, mournful, angry, swinging, chaotic and triumphant.” -LARRY BLUMFELD, WSJ