8 am - 9 am

8 A.M. The day is picking up pace. Mingus is playing loud in the kitchen, something is boiling. It's Blues & Roots (Rhino), or the excellent Thirteen Pictures: The Charles Mingus Anthology (Rhino). Hit the repeat function on "Jump Monk". Like the motor of a city, the rattle of an overhead railway, blood coursing back to the heart, air propelled through the pipes of an old hotel. There is a hoarse voice rising to a shout with the force of life.
What else would work at this hour? The rock-steady beat of Tighten Up: Trojan Reggae Classics 1968-1974 (Trojan) or "Expecting To Fly" from Neil Young's great, reissued compilation, Decade (Reprise).

1. Charles Mingus  - Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting (5:45)
2. Charles Mingus Quintet - Jump Monk (6:57)
3. Charles Mingus Quintet - Jump Monk (6:57)
4. Charles Mingus - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (4:49)
5. Charles Mingus - Hora Decubitus (4:44)
6. The Untouchables - Tighten Up (2:38)
7. Derrick Morgan - Fat Man (3:09)
8. Clancy Eccles - Fattie Fattie (2:41)
9. The Upsetters - Return Of DJango (2:30)
10. The Maytals - Monkey Man (3:45)
11. Dave Barker & The Upsetters - Shocks Of Mighty (2:47)
12. King Stitt & Andy Capp - Herbsman Shuffle (2:38)
13. Delroy Wilson - Better Must Come (2:47)
14. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Duppy Conquerer (3:16)
15. Neil Young - Expecting To Fly (3:45)