Bass player and composer Charles Mingus's 1956 landmark modern jazz record Pithecanthropus Erectus on the Pan Am label is a limited, remastered 180-gram vinyl LP reissue. Recorded with his Jazz Workshop group, this foundational release captures Mingus's stylistic leap into advanced post-bop and programmatic, boundary-pushing free collective improvisation with  Charles Mingus (bass), Jackie McLean (alto saxophone), J. R. Monterose (tenor saxophone), Mal Waldron (piano), and Willie Jones (drums).