CD1
Tracks 1-7: The Modern Jazz Quartet
1. Medley: They Say It’s Wonderful, How Deep
Is The Ocean, I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance
With You, My Old Flame, Body And Soul
2. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
3. La Ronde: Drums
4. Night In Tunisia
5. Yesterdays
6. Bags’ Groove
7. Baden-Baden
Tracks 8-18: Django
8. Django
9. One Bass Hit
10. La Ronde Suite Part 1: Piano
11. La Ronde Suite Part 2: Bass
12. La Ronde Suite Part 3: Vibes
13. La Ronde Suite Part 4: Drums
14. The Queen’s Fancy
15. Delaunay’s Dilemma
16. Autumn In New York
17. But Not For Me
18. Milano
CD2
Tracks 1-7: Fontessa
1. Versailles
2. Angel Eyes
3. Fontessa
4. Over The Rainbow
5. Bluesology
6. Willow Weep For Me
7. Woody'n You
Tracks 8-16: Modern Jazz Quartet At Music
Inn
8. Oh, Bess, Oh, Where’s My Bess
9. A Fugue For Music Inn
10. Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West
11. Serenade
12. Fun
13. Sun Dance
14. The Man That Got Away
15. A Morning In Paris
16. Variation No. 1 on "God Rest Ye Merry,
Gentlemen"
John Lewis - Piano
Milt Jackson - Vibes
Percy Heath - Bass
Connie Kay - Drums (except on CD1, tracks
8-19)
Kenny Clarke - Drums (CD1, tracks 8-19)
Jimmy Giuffre - Clarinet (CD2, tracks 9, 11,
12)
The Modern Jazz Quartet started
as a kind of spin-off from the Dizzy Gillespie
band, where John Lewis met Milt Jackson and
Kenny Clarke (replaced as the MJQ's drummer
in 1955 by Connie Kay). Originally called
the Milt Jackson Quartet, the group changed
its name to the Modern Jazz Quartet when it
became a co-operative. Yet the power behind
the band was always John Lewis, who not only
played piano but wrote the arrangements and
many of the tunes, including such trademark
MJQ numbers as Django and La Ronde.
It was Lewis's approach to
jazz which in many ways determined the direction
the quartet took. This is particularly clear
in pastiche baroque pieces like The Queen's
Fancy and the suite Fontessa (which
was inspired by the Commedia dell'arte). Lewis
introduced classical devices like counterpoint
and fugue into the band's performances. This
led some critics to damn the group for its
classical influences - and the associated
fact that the MJQ members dressed in posh
suits and adopted a generally serious demeanour,
like musicians in a symphony orchestra.
These criticisms were unjustified,
because the MJQ had great success and introduced
many people to a love of jazz, as well as
showing that jazz could be dignified as well
as fun. Besides, Milt Jackson's playing was
firmly based on the blues, so his solos often
have a down-home quality which dissipates
any tendency towards solemnity.
Another factor in their success
was the group's integration: they sounded
like a united quartet rather than four men
just playing at the same time. Classic tracks
like Django demonstrate their togetherness
and precision - and John Lewis's tune has
a tasteful mixture of seriousness and bluesy
swing (the latter most evident in Percy Heath's
famous double-bass figure). Jimmy Giuffre's
understated clarinet melds perfectly with
the quartet in three tracks on the second
CD. As Giuffre said: "We both like the subtle
aspects".
Now that the MJQ is no more,
perhaps we can put aside the controversies
of the past and recognise that the group was
unique, as well as making a lasting contribution
to the jazz canon. And the Avid label has
worked wonders again: squeezing four original
LPs from the 1950s onto a double CD at a bargain
price.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Avid
AMSC 945
