Modern Jazz Quartet: Bluesology: The Atlantic Years 1956-1988 (2009)

Chris May

Senior Editor since 2004

Chris May edited Black Music & Jazz Review (UK).

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Published: July 13, 2009

Modern Jazz Quartet: Bluesology: The Atlantic Years 1956-1988

Asked to name the most insurrectionary artists associated with the Atlantic label, most jazz fans would probably think first of saxophonists John Coltrane John Coltrane
1926 - 1967
saxophone and Ornette Coleman Ornette Coleman
b.1930
sax, alto . Pianist John Lewis John Lewis
b.1920
piano ' Modern Jazz Quartet would come much further down the list. Yet in its own, more velvet manner, the MJQ was as radical as Coltrane and Coleman. When the group came to prominence in the mid-1950s, its elegant chamber music, a blend of the blues and European baroque, subverted many of the conventions of the hard bop era and caused a storm of controversy.

Appearing on stage in immaculately tailored tuxedos and formal in its approach to the audience—for both of which actions some contemporary observers ludicrously accused the group of "trying to be white"—the MJQ married delicacy with drive, and replaced the prevailing hard bop paradigm of theme/solos/theme with through composition and collective improvisation. The group succeeded in making the blues sound baroque, and fugues and rondos sound soulful and modern. And at no point did the music ever stop swinging. It was a revolutionary achievement, and an enduring one.

Fronted during its first few years by vibraphonist Milt Jackson Milt Jackson
1923 - 1999
vibraphone , by 1955 the MJQ was very much Lewis' baby. The pianist—extensively trained in the classics but also previously a member of, and arranger for, bands led by saxophonist Charlie Parker Charlie Parker
1920 - 1955
sax, alto and trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie Dizzy Gillespie
1917 - 1993
trumpet and Miles Davis Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet —wrote most of the material, and Jackson became the band's chief soloist, often working contrapuntally with Lewis or bassist Percy Heath Percy Heath
1923 - 2005
bass, acoustic (who had replaced founder member Ray Brown Ray Brown
1926 - 2002
bass, acoustic ). Drummer Connie Kay Connie Kay
1927 - 1994
drums (who replaced Kenny Clarke Kenny Clarke
1914 - 1985
drums ) was heard on brushes more often than sticks, and had a trippy line in bells, triangles and finger cymbals. Kay's style was refined and understated but it always swung like the clappers. The group broke up in 1974, when Jackson opted to pursue a solo career. It reformed as a touring outfit in the mid 1980s, performing until Kay's death in 1994.

Warner's two-disc Anthology series—which in 2008 released well put-together compilations of Atlantic recordings by pianist Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett
b.1945
piano and saxophonist Charles Lloyd Charles Lloyd
b.1938
saxophone —has once more done its chosen subject proud with Bluesology: The Atlantic Years 1956-1988. The first disc is a selection from the MJQ's copious studio legacy, the second is taken from live recordings (with the final three tracks comprising material not included on the 1971 studio album Plastic Dreams). All tracks except 1988's "For Ellington" were recorded during the group's 1956-1974 heyday.

It is, of course, impossible over a mere two discs to document the MJQ properly, but Bluesology amply fulfils its function as a taster—anyone hearing it, and unfamiliar with the original albums from which it is drawn, will likely feel compelled to check them out. If so, Fontessa (1956), Pyramid (1960) and Blues On Bach (1973) are among the key studio sets, and Dedicated To Connie (recorded in 1960 but not released until 1995) and The Last Concert (1974) among the best live ones.

Track Listing: Tracks: CD1: Bluesology; The Golden Striker; Bags' Groove; Da Capo; Vendome; Django; England's Carol; Lonely Woman; Animal Dance; The Sheriff; Bachianas Brasileiras; Walkin' Stomp; Precious Joy; For Ellington. CD2: A Fugue For Music Inn; Fun; Night In Tunisia; I Remember Clifford; Midsommer; Winter

Personnel: Personnel: Milt Jackson: vibraphone; John Lewis: piano, harpsichord (CD1#13); Percy Heath: bass; Connie Kay: drums; Jimmy Giuffre: clarinet (CD1#4, CD2#1, CD2#2); Jim Hall: guitar (CD1#4); Ralph Pena: bass (CD1#4); Sonny Rollins: tenor saxophone (CD2#3); orchestra conducted by Gunther Schuller (CD1#7); Joe Newman: trumpet (CD2#10); Snooky Young: trumpet (CD2#10); Garnett Brown: trombone (CD2#10); Jimmy Buffington: French horn (CD2#10); Don Butterfield: tuba (CD2#10).

Record Label: Warner Jazz
Style: Straight-ahead/Mainstream