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THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET
The Complete Prestige & Pablo
Recordings (Prestige/Pablo)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
This four disc set provides a neat, if not precise, look at the bookends of the career of the Modern Jazz Quartet. It's imprecise because there were a few recordings made after the group's comeback releases on Pablo following their hiatus in the 1970s, and those last recordings are worth checking out as well, but the picture of the group in it's full maturity provided by the four Pablo albums is a reasonably complete one.
In some ways, though, it's the earliest recordings for Prestige, released on 78s and ten inch albums before the first full release by the original quartet - John Lewis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Kenny Clark, and the transition from Clark to Connie Kay on drums between the first and second LPs, that's the most interesting. Among those early cuts are the tracks recorded when the band was still shifting from an identity as the Milt Jackson Quartet to the name that would stick for over four decades, and there are the four tracks recorded with Sonny Rollins sitting in on tenor. It's that first album, though, 1955's "Django," that sets the style with the introduction of tunes that would be MJQ signature tracks throughout their career, including "La Ronde Suite" and "One Bass Hit" along with the title cut. By the time the second full length appeared, Connie Kay was on the drum throne and the band not only had a sound and style, but a lineup that would last as long as all four lived.
The first two comeback efforts were live recordings, and showed the group in full command of their classic material, but the studio efforts that followed proved that they wouldn't be resting on their well-earned laurels, but would continue to create vital new music throughout their run.
Regardless of the era, though, this is remarkable music by one of the most remarkable ensembles in jazz history. It's every bit a match, track for track, with the great music they created for Atlantic between and after these recordings, and an essential addition to a serious jazz shelf.
Track Lists:
Disc One: All The Things You Are * La Ronde * Vendome * Rose Of The Rio Grande * The Queen's Fancy * Delaunay's Dilemma * Autumn In New York * But Not For Me * In A Sentimental Mood * The Stopper * Almost Like Being In Love * Mo Moe * Django * One Bass Hit * Milano * La Ronde Suite * Ralph's New Blues * All Of You
Disc Two: I'll Remember Paris * Gershwin Medley (Soon/For You, For Me, Forevermore/Love Walked In/Love Is Here To Stay) * Concorde * Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise * The Cylinder * Really True Blues * The Golden Striker * Odds Against Tomorrow * The Jasmine Tree * Bags' Groove * Django
Disc Three: The Jasmine Tree * Odds Against Tomorrow * The Cylinder * The Martyr * Really True Blues * Monterey Mist * Bags' New Groove * Woody'n You * Echoes * The Watergate Blues * The Hornpipe * Connie's Blues
Disc Four: Sacha's March * That Slavic Smile * Reunion Blues * D And E (take 5) * Rockin' In Rhythm (take 16) * Valeria * Le Cannet * Nature Boy * Milano * Topsy * D And E (re-take 1)
© 2003 - Shaun Dale