Mingus Three is one of only two albums Charles Mingus recorded in a trio setting. On 9 July 1957 he went into a New York studio with pianist Hampton Hawes and drummer Dannie Richmond for a programme of standards such as Yesterdays, Summertime and Laura alongside originals like Hamp's New Blues and Dizzy Moods. Hawes's feel for the blues and Mingus's restless bass pull the music away from the usual division of labour in a piano trio. The album originally came out on Jubilee Records. During remastering, unreleased takes from the same session turned up in the Parlophone vaults, together with a text by Mingus's colleague Sy Johnson.

This edition is a 2LP, the second record holding those outtakes.