Jazz Quartet

This debut album by the unfortunately short-lived Prestige Jazz Quartet was a seeming "answer" to the Modern Jazz Quartet. Indeed, even in the original liner notes the comparison gets made - rather sarcastically - by Ira Gitler that while the players in the PJQ are as influenced by classical music as the MJQ, they are interested "in the more contemporary developments…with more regard to devices and spirit than actual form." Sure, but what he is really saying is that these cats are pure jazz players who understand the understated dynamic of the MJQ and can make it just as seamless, just as smooth, just as adventurous, and still make it swing like hell. And they do. The four compositions here, one by Teddy Charles, two by Mal Waldron, and one by Thelonious Monk, are all extensions on jazz thought…

On tour for their 40th Anniversary, the four jazz giants stopped in Stuttgart for the “Jazz Gipfel” 1992, where they were joined by the Arcata chamber orchestra, directed by Patrick Strub. As Pianist John Lewis’ compositions had long been influenced by his affinity for the so-called “Third Stream” between jazz and classical music, this seemed an apt celebration. The MJQ existed from 1952 to 1974, and again from 1981 to 1995. Over the years it took such deep root in the consciousness of jazz fans that, quite irrationally, one could believe in the immortality of its members. The past few years have proved us wrong: all four members of the quartet have died, the last was Percy Heath in 2005.

This album is certain to be placed in the MJQ section of any shop that carries it. In reality though, only four of the cuts here feature the permanent, stand-alone, 1952-vintage Modern Jazz Quartet; the other eight having been done in the summer and fall of 1951, when they were still known as the Milt Jackson Quartet, with Jackson providing all of the original material. The differences are so subtle as to be indistinguishable – Milt Jackson and John Lewis are on every cut, while Al Johns subs for Kenny Clarke on drums, and Ray Brown precedes Percy Heath on four of the tracks. Clarke's drumming is more impressive in its quiet way, but Ray Brown's bass work is simpler and more forceful.

Spanning one of the few transitional periods for the Modern Jazz Quartet when Connie Kay replaced Kenny Clarke as the group's drummer, The Artistry of the Modern Jazz Quartet covers the years from 1952-1955. By this point in the group's career, John Lewis was largely overseeing the quartet's repertoire, penning the bulk of the original material. Indeed, on The Artistry Of, the pianist contributes six compositions to Milt Jackson's one (the excellent "Ralph's New Blues"). The set is balanced out by renditions of the most common of jazz standards in "Almost Like Falling in Love," "I'll Remember April," and "In a Sentimental Mood," and the work of more contemporary artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins…

Sonny Rollins - Sonny Rollins With The Modern Jazz Quartet (1951) {2003 Prestige 20bit K2 Remaster}
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© 2003 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-7029-2
Jazz / Bop

This album covers roughly two years in Rollins's career when he was beginning to emerge as an important force in contemporary jazz. "I Know" was his first track as a leader, taped at the end of a January 1951 Miles Davis date at Davis's insistence. (Miles even played piano for him.) Sonny's first date as a leader took place on a snowy December night at the end of that year. The meeting with the Modern Jazz Quartet, in October 1953, showed a new maturity, especially in the rendition of Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood."

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Third Stream Music (1960) {2013 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-27307}
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© 1960, 2013 Atlantic / Rhino / Warner Japan / WEA | WPCR-27307 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Cool / Third Stream

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A seminal album that defined the fresh sound of a whole new generation in jazz – that "third stream" movement that was different from the cool jazz of the west coast, and the fire of New York! The style here follows that same mix of jazz and higher-concept elements you'd hear on other Modern Jazz Quartet albums for Atlantic – but the music is expanded here with some great help from outside parties too.

Pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Kenny Clarke first came together as the rhythm section of the 1946 Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra and they had occasional features that gave the overworked brass players a well-deserved rest. They next came together in 1951, recording as the Milt Jackson Quartet. In 1952, with Percy Heath taking Brown's place, the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) became a permanent group. Other than Connie Kay succeeding Clarke in 1955, the band's personnel was set. In the early days Jackson and Lewis both were equally responsible for the group's musical direction but the pianist eventually took over as musical director…

Slavic Smile was recorded in 1982, shortly after the Modern Jazz Quartet was reunited. On this album, the unique pianist of the MJQ, John Lewis pursued a different sound and approach from the legendary group, albeit with the same instrumentations and Connie Kay on the drum chair…