The Modern Jazz Quartet

[Alon Marcus]

I'm not sure, maybe a seperate John Lewis thread could be a better place but still I recommend his "Wonderful World of Jazz".

[mikeweil]

Hasn't somebody saved the MJQ thread from the old Blue Note Board? There were some very nice exchanges on the band in there. I couldn't repeat what I said there.

[BruceW]

Go ahead, give it a try.....

B-)

[Jazz Kat]

I have to break ranks with this MJQ love fest. I know the group was very talented but I never could get excited with the "third Stream" genre.

Same here (especially the orchestral things), but as the 60s wore on, those tendencies became less common (or at least less overt), and that's when things got a little more interesting for me.

I remember in 1975 (74? 76?) when they were celebrating some anniversary, and they had a run of appearances on several TV shows. The music was very strange, really, lots of vamps and open-ended sections with sparse changes, no real "beat" out of Kay, just a nice soft blur of sound. "Avant-garde" in many respects, although it was still performed in tuxedos and stuff.

Flip Wilson Show

[JSngry]

Dick Cavett, too, iirc, and....

one of the most bizarre TV lineups I've ever seen - Helen Reddy had a summer replacement show on NBC one year, a variety type thing and on one episode her guest were the MJQ & B.B. King. The closing number was a collective jam between B.B., the MJQ, & Ms. Reddy her ownself on "Every Day I Have The Blues"!

That's right - Helen Reddy singing the blues backed by BB King & the MJQ! It's everything you'd expect....

I taped it off the TV on a reel-to-reel, and probably have it somewhere, along with one or two of those other MJQ TV appearances.

[J.A.W.]

I like a lot of their stuff, but have a problem with the more "prissy" John Lewis things.

A long time ago I read in an interview somewhere that Milt Jackson felt the same way. Away from the MJQ, like on his Riverside albums, he sounded more or less "liberated" (for lack of a better term).

Edited March 19, 2005 by J.A.W.

[nmorin]

I absolutely love "European Concert", which was reissued for about 10 minutes by the M label a few years back. I think I listen to that one almost as much as all my other MJQ combined.

[JSngry]

Any opinions on this one?

Love the title, love the cover, but it was a 2-lp set back in the day, and I never bit.

[Jazz Kat]

Epitome of early 70's MJQ. That album is part of the albums leading up to their last concert album in 1974, along with Blues On Bach. They were more free by this point, but they still had their sound.

[JSngry]

That sounds like a good thing.

[Jazz Kat]

Yep, I like the early 70's period way better than their mid to late 60's period.

[Guy Berger]

There is another MJQ thread here.

My question: I've always been somewhat puzzled by the emphasis on the MJQ's tux-wearing. I mean, it's a historically interesting quirk, but it occasionally seems like people use it to judge the music (for better or for worse). Maybe I'm wrong.

Guy

[mikeweil]

Any opinions on this one?

Love the title, love the cover, but it was a 2-lp set back in the day, and I never bit.

That was a single LP! Due to Connie Kay's abundant use of a crotale for a ride cymbal, this record makes a great tweeter test. Beyond that, it's the funkiest the MJQ ever got - listen to Percy Heath's bass grooves and John Lewis' bluesy comping, which is like a James Brown horn section undernath his elegant touch.

[sidewinder]

Any opinions on this one?

Love the title, love the cover, but it was a 2-lp set back in the day, and I never bit.

That was a single LP! Due to Connie Kay's abundant use of a crotale for a ride cymbal, this record makes a great tweeter test. Beyond that, it's the funkiest the MJQ ever got - listen to Percy Heath's bass grooves and John Lewis' bluesy comping, which is like a James Brown horn section undernath his elegant touch.

There's a copy of that one on LP in my local Oxfam shop. Haven't worked up the nerve though to take it to the nice ladies at the counter..

Edited August 24, 2006 by sidewinder

[Guest akanalog]

i have always found mjq one of the "trippier" jazz sounds and also good to listen to stoned (or going to sleep).

i like the live at the lighthouse one which has been reissued by wounded bird or one way in particular.

[Guest akanalog]

The Sheriff remains my favorite MJQ album. my father is an enthousiastic so i listened to them my entire life

Marcus

marcus, it is funny you say this because my dad had a best of mjq CD (pablo stuff) and i liked it and asked him about them and he always said he hated them and they were boring and he didn't like the sound of vibes but that was my introduction to the mjq. i am not sure he was telling the truth because he also had like every ron carter album put out up through the mid 80s and he claimed he hated ron carter also because carter never played in tune.

[montg]

I've been enjoying the live CD Dedicated to Connie recently..the first time, really, that I've actually enjoyed the MJQ (if you know what I mean). I guess there's a place in my life now for something a little more slowly paced (a feeling similiar to comments of others earlier in the thread). Or maybe my listenting chops are getting better and I'm hearing things that I used to miss. In any case, I'm bumping this thread up, hoping to read some more thoughts and recommendations.

[marcello]

Dedicated to Connie is one of my favorites also.

Here's some other favorites:

[srellek]

I've been enjoying the live CD Dedicated to Connie recently..the first time, really, that I've actually enjoyed the MJQ (if you know what I mean). I guess there's a place in my life now for something a little more slowly paced (a feeling similiar to comments of others earlier in the thread). Or maybe my listenting chops are getting better and I'm hearing things that I used to miss. In any case, I'm bumping this thread up, hoping to read some more thoughts and recommendations.

DTC is great stuff. I like so many of their records. I'll plug EUROPEAN CONCERT as one of my favorites. And for something a little different, when they've worked with other artists: AT MUSIC INN with Sonny Rollins, COLLABORATION with Laurindo Almeida, and the 1971 Town Hall concert with Paul Desmond.

John Lewis' records are all also worth checking into. Especially his early Atlantic cds and the valedictory EVOLUTION I and II discs recorded in the last few years of his life.

[six string]

My favorite albums by MJQ are Lonely Woman, Pyramid, the collaboration with Laurenda Almeida and the one titled Modern Jazz Quartet/Milt Jackson Quartet. Seeing that picture of the Ellington album reminded me that I used to have that one. I don't know what happened to it though.

They are a sound that I have to be in the mood for. They aren't something I'd reach for casually like some of my favorite artists but they have grown on me over the years.