We’re heading into uncharted territory with this month’s pick in our Record of the Month Club. This selection marks the first jazz record since we started mailing out records to club members over a year ago. We’ve been waiting patiently for the perfect jazz record to come around to both introduce folks to the genre and provide jazz fans something they may not already have. This selection is a pristine, vinyl reissue of Charles Mingus’s Blues and Roots originally released on Atlantic Records in 1960. Like most jazz records from that time period it’s near impossible to find nice, clean copies on vinyl, which makes this reissue extra special. Members will be getting the original MONO version of the record pressed on 180-gram vinyl. We did a side-by-side comparison with an (very expensive) original pressing and couldn’t tell the difference. This is a fine jazz record and we believe—along with Miles’ Kind of Blue and Coltrane’s A Love Supreme—it should be in every record collection. This record also hits home with us due to its influences from New Orleans jazz and Mississippi Blues and roots music. It swings and moans while displaying Mingus’ unique and diverse style. Jazz is truly the only music 100% created in America and Charles Mingus’s records are some of the most important works of any American Artist.