The Complete 1956-1964 Modern Jazz Quartet Atlantic Studio Recordings

[crisp]

This one took me by surprise: http://www.mosaicrecords.com/genres.asp?dept=50

It might seem odd that the prototypical bebop rhythm section from Dizzy Gillespie's '40s orchestra would morph into the pioneering chamber jazz group of the '50s. But the music created by Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath and Connie Kay (replacing Kenny Clarke) collectively under the Modern Jazz Quartet moniker never strayed far from bop or the blues and much of their classical endeavors were influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach, whose intricate, sycopated music bore an uncanny resemblance to bebop.

After two striking albums on Prestige, the quartet was snapped up in 1956 by Atlantic Records, an emerging major label (their forte was R & B) which was then returning to its jazz roots on a grand scale signing the likes of Charles Mingus, Jimmy Giuffre and the MJQ.

One of the most popular and controversial groups of its time, the MJQ has faded from the forefront of jazz history in recent times. So Mosaic thought it was about time to pull together the seminal work that the band recorded for Atlatnic over the next years. They were prolific, releasing 14 albums (all of which are included on this 7-CD set) in just eight years. But these albums were more than just blowing sessions; they were well thought-out conceptual albums that required imagination, compositional time and hard work. They range from classic jazz albums by the foursome to collaborations with Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Giuffre and Laurindo Almeida to two ambitious third-stream projects to the masterful reinterpretation of Gershwin's "Porgy And Bess."

Taken as a body of work, this set not only captures the creative peaks of this extraordinary group but also puts into focus its expansive scope.

Edited January 18, 2011 by crisp

[BFrank]

... seminal work that the band recorded for Atlatnic

[Bol]

This is fantastic news. After the Jamal set, I was hoping for a John Lewis set. And this is equally good.

Now, I have to make up my mind as to whether to get the Stan Getz CD set or the LP set. A happy dilemma.

[Dmitry]

One of the most popular and controversial groups of its time, the MJQ has faded from the forefront of jazz history in recent times.

Why would the writer call MJQ one of the most controversial groups of its time? 'Its time' spanned 30 years, and I wouldn't call the music controversial..

As far as fading, before the end of the record store era [i.e. the closing of Tower and Virgin] MJQ titles were always quite well-represented in the stacks. Perhaps I misread the Mosaic write-up..

[J.A.W.]

This is fantastic news. After the Jamal set, I was hoping for a John Lewis set. And this is equally good.

Now, I have to make up my mind as to whether to get the Stan Getz CD set or the LP set. A happy dilemma.

Apparently the Mosaic Getz will not include the 1952 sides that the Hip-O Select 3CD-set has. I've asked Mosaic about this. I will post their reply in the Getz thread.

[mikeweil]

I wonder whether they will include both the mono and stereo takes of some titles the MJQ re-recorded - e.g. Fontessa and The Comedy differ in both issues.

Is this list complete?

Fontessa

One Never Knows

The Modern Jazz Quartet

At Music Inn Vol. 1 & 2

European Concert Vol. 1 & 2 *

MJQ & Orchestra

Pyramid

Third Steam Music

The Comedy

Lonely Woman

A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet

The Sherrif

Porgy and Bess

Collaboration (w. Laurindo Almeida)

Blues At Carnegie Hall *

Live At The Lighthouse *

* are live recordings that will not be included, as well as Jazz Dialogue with brass section.

Edited February 8, 2011 by mikeweil

[Bol]

This is fantastic news. After the Jamal set, I was hoping for a John Lewis set. And this is equally good.

Now, I have to make up my mind as to whether to get the Stan Getz CD set or the LP set. A happy dilemma.

Apparently the Mosaic Getz will not include the 1952 sides that the Hip-O Select 3CD-set has. I've asked Mosaic about this. I will post their reply in the Getz thread.

Very helpful. Thanks, Hans.

[tranemonk]

Although I've never been a huge MJQ fan... I think I probably will get this set and try to give them another try....

[king ubu]

Cool news about the MJQ!

Don't have too much of these albums for once (ah, well... Lonely Woman, Fontessa, Pyramid and Porgy & Bess)

[mellowT]

Now, I have to make up my mind as to whether to get the Stan Getz CD set or the LP set. A happy dilemma.

The Mosaic announcement only mentions LPs for the Getz set. Am I missing something?

[golfcrazy1984]

Now, I have to make up my mind as to whether to get the Stan Getz CD set or the LP set. A happy dilemma.

The Mosaic announcement only mentions LPs for the Getz set. Am I missing something?

It appears it is only offered in LP format. The 60s Ellington/Fitzgearald set is LP only as well.

Although I've never been a huge MJQ fan... I think I probably will get this set and try to give them another try....

I will get this set as well. Hate to be a downer, but I thought the Lunceford set was coming out first this year.... ....but I'm happily surprised

[Bright Moments]

I wonder whether they will include both the mono and stereo takes of some titles the MJQ re-recorded - e.g. Fontessa and The Comedy differ in both issues.

Is this list complete?

Fontessa

One Never Knows

At Music Inn Vol. 1 & 2 *

No Sun in Venice

European Concert Vol. 1 & 2 *

MJQ & Orchestra

Pyramid

Third Steam Music

The Comedy

Lonely Woman

A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet

The Sherrif

Porgy and Bess

Jazz Dialogue

Collaboration (w. Laurindo Almeida)

Blues At Carnegie Hall *

Live At The Lighthouse *

* are live recordings that will not be included.

All this music is easily and cheaply available on CD except for Third Stream Music which was reissued by Wounded Bird in 2002 and is no longer available. So what am I missing here.......isn't the idea of a mosaic set to include OOP or previously unavailable on domestic CD music as a majority of their content.....but virtually ALL of this music is currently in print domestically in the states and easily available. Mosaic needs to shelve this and get back to work on that SAM RIVERS SET they had planned for November......most of this MJQ music is available on Wounded Bird, Collectables and Atlantic WEA.

i agree 100%

[crisp]

Now, I have to make up my mind as to whether to get the Stan Getz CD set or the LP set. A happy dilemma.

The Mosaic announcement only mentions LPs for the Getz set. Am I missing something?

The CD edition is being released separately by Hip-O Select. See this thread.

[king ubu]

Nah, I disagree... I still have the cheap looks and feel of Collectables, and Wounded Bird is but a tiny bit better and has nearly non-existing distribution (and horrendous prices) over here...

Also, quite possibly Mosaic is hoping for a good-selling set?

They certainly would deserve that!

[gmonahan]

I too was surprised, but I'll probably get this set. Like some others I don't have most of these records. It is a little odd for Mosaic to be issuing music that's available elsewhere, but this is a cohesive set, and it will probably sell well. The MJQ always sold a lot of records. Might that be one reason for this one? To put a little cash in the drawer?

gregmo

[gmonahan]

I wonder whether they will include both the mono and stereo takes of some titles the MJQ re-recorded - e.g. Fontessa and The Comedy differ in both issues.

Is this list complete?

Fontessa

One Never Knows

At Music Inn Vol. 1 & 2 *

No Sun in Venice

European Concert Vol. 1 & 2 *

MJQ & Orchestra

Pyramid

Third Steam Music

The Comedy

Lonely Woman

A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet

The Sherrif

Porgy and Bess

Jazz Dialogue

Collaboration (w. Laurindo Almeida)

Blues At Carnegie Hall *

Live At The Lighthouse *

* are live recordings that will not be included.

I don't see "Dedicated to Connie" on this list. That was a concert recorded in Lubjana, Slovenia in 1960 but issued many years later (unless it is one of these and reissued under a different title?). Likewise, their later Atlantic albums like "Blues on Bach" are not here or later concert albums like "The Last Concert," but I assume you're only including material issued at the time that's more or less covered by the period of the set.

gregmo

[Bill B]

I wonder whether they will include both the mono and stereo takes of some titles the MJQ re-recorded - e.g. Fontessa and The Comedy differ in both issues.

Is this list complete?

Fontessa

One Never Knows

At Music Inn Vol. 1 & 2 *

No Sun in Venice

European Concert Vol. 1 & 2 *

MJQ & Orchestra

Pyramid

Third Steam Music

The Comedy

Lonely Woman

A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet

The Sherrif

Porgy and Bess

Jazz Dialogue

Collaboration (w. Laurindo Almeida)

Blues At Carnegie Hall *

Live At The Lighthouse *

* are live recordings that will not be included.

Add: MJQ LP 1265 4 April 1957

[J.A.W.]

I wonder whether they will include both the mono and stereo takes of some titles the MJQ re-recorded - e.g. Fontessa and The Comedy differ in both issues.

Is this list complete?

Fontessa

One Never Knows

At Music Inn Vol. 1 & 2 *

No Sun in Venice

European Concert Vol. 1 & 2 *

MJQ & Orchestra

Pyramid

Third Steam Music

The Comedy

Lonely Woman

A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet

The Sherrif

Porgy and Bess

Jazz Dialogue

Collaboration (w. Laurindo Almeida)

Blues At Carnegie Hall *

Live At The Lighthouse *

* are live recordings that will not be included.

I don't see "Dedicated to Connie" on this list. That was a concert recorded in Lubjana, Slovenia in 1960 but issued many years later (unless it is one of these and reissued under a different title?). Likewise, their later Atlantic albums like "Blues on Bach" are not here or later concert albums like "The Last Concert," but I assume you're only including material issued at the time that's more or less covered by the period of the set.

gregmo

As the thread title says the set will only include studio recordings.

[gmonahan]

I wonder whether they will include both the mono and stereo takes of some titles the MJQ re-recorded - e.g. Fontessa and The Comedy differ in both issues.

Is this list complete?

Fontessa

One Never Knows

At Music Inn Vol. 1 & 2 *

No Sun in Venice

European Concert Vol. 1 & 2 *

MJQ & Orchestra

Pyramid

Third Steam Music

The Comedy

Lonely Woman

A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet

The Sherrif

Porgy and Bess

Jazz Dialogue

Collaboration (w. Laurindo Almeida)

Blues At Carnegie Hall *

Live At The Lighthouse *

* are live recordings that will not be included.

I don't see "Dedicated to Connie" on this list. That was a concert recorded in Lubjana, Slovenia in 1960 but issued many years later (unless it is one of these and reissued under a different title?). Likewise, their later Atlantic albums like "Blues on Bach" are not here or later concert albums like "The Last Concert," but I assume you're only including material issued at the time that's more or less covered by the period of the set.

gregmo

As the thread title says the set will only include studio recordings.

Yes Hans, but the poster listed the live albums too and asked if his list was complete. I was responding to that query.

gregmo

[crisp]

Nah, I disagree... I still have the cheap looks and feel of Collectables, and Wounded Bird is but a tiny bit better and has nearly non-existing distribution (and horrendous prices) over here...

I hate Collectables. It's long been a vortex of lousy remastering and tacky packaging into which much classic music disappears, never to be reissued by anyone else. Mosaic was put off doing a Dakota Staton set by Collectables bringing out its own slapdash releases. I'm hoping that this is a sign that that won't be a problem any more.

Also, isn't this the first Mosaic release of WEA material since the Ellington Reprise set (#193)? And it's the first of Atlantic material since the Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions (#179). That was one of the things that surprised me.

[Rooster_Ties]

One of the most popular and controversial groups of its time, the MJQ has faded from the forefront of jazz history in recent times.

Why would the writer call MJQ one of the most controversial groups of its time? 'Its time' spanned 30 years, and I wouldn't call the music controversial..

As far as fading, before the end of the record store era [i.e. the closing of Tower and Virgin] MJQ titles were always quite well-represented in the stacks. Perhaps I misread the Mosaic write-up..

I'm assuming that's a marketing department dog-whistle for folks like me who might otherwise assume the MJQ is just some sleepy outfit who only played "nice and pretty music that was easy on the ears". (In other words, I read that "controversial" with positive connotations!) Note: I never had quite that impression of the MJQ (or at least not for long), but I am aware that it is out there.

They did something similar with the initial marketing of the Denny Zeitlin Select (and it worked, cuz I bought one!). The on-line description of the Zeitlin currently on the Mosaic site doesn't reflect this, but I'm just sure I read something (from Mosaic) that piqued my curiosity, and I could swear it was along these same lines.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Rooster_Ties

[crisp]

I recalled that the British critic Benny Green hated the MJQ. Googling around brought up this little essay, not by him but quoting him and giving an impression of how the MJQ were received in their day.

As far as I have been able to deduce, from his general behaviour as well as from his playing, Lewis believes jazz to be vulgar… [His] dream has been to purge jazz of all indecencies, all coarser overtones, all unfortunate rabelaisian gestures, which is certainly a thoroughly praise-worthy ambition, always provided that in cleansing her soul you do not make the same mistake as Othello and fracture her windpipe at the same time. There can be no argument that in a strictly limited sense, Lewis's bowdlerising campaign has flourished famously. No music by the Modern Jazz Quartet has even been tainted by even the faintest hint of vulgarity… In his attempts to distil the decorous essence, Lewis has refined jazz out of existence, which raises the question, vulgar in comparison to what? And once we find the answer it seems plain that Lewis is yet another victim of a common American cultural complaint, familiar enough in the arts generally but unprecedented in jazz. Lewis has caught a chronic case of Jamesian obsession with Europe

[Bol]

I wonder whether they will include both the mono and stereo takes of some titles the MJQ re-recorded - e.g. Fontessa and The Comedy differ in both issues.

Is this list complete?

Fontessa

One Never Knows

At Music Inn Vol. 1 & 2 *

No Sun in Venice

European Concert Vol. 1 & 2 *

MJQ & Orchestra

Pyramid

Third Steam Music

The Comedy

Lonely Woman

A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet

The Sherrif

Porgy and Bess

Jazz Dialogue

Collaboration (w. Laurindo Almeida)

Blues At Carnegie Hall *

Live At The Lighthouse *

* are live recordings that will not be included.

I don't see "Dedicated to Connie" on this list. That was a concert recorded in Lubjana, Slovenia in 1960 but issued many years later (unless it is one of these and reissued under a different title?). Likewise, their later Atlantic albums like "Blues on Bach" are not here or later concert albums like "The Last Concert," but I assume you're only including material issued at the time that's more or less covered by the period of the set.

gregmo

As the thread title says the set will only include studio recordings.

Yes Hans, but the poster listed the live albums too and asked if his list was complete. I was responding to that query.

gregmo

The description by Mosaic indicates that the 2 Music Inn sessions will be included. Perhaps those are studio sessions.

[Dmitry]

One of the most popular and controversial groups of its time, the MJQ has faded from the forefront of jazz history in recent times.

Why would the writer call MJQ one of the most controversial groups of its time? 'Its time' spanned 30 years, and I wouldn't call the music controversial..

As far as fading, before the end of the record store era [i.e. the closing of Tower and Virgin] MJQ titles were always quite well-represented in the stacks. Perhaps I misread the Mosaic write-up..

I'm assuming that's a marketing department dog-whistle for folks like me who might otherwise assume the MJQ is just some sleepy outfit who only played "nice and pretty music that was easy on the ears". (In other words, I read that "controversial" with positive connotations!) Note: I never had quite that impression of the MJQ (or at least not for long), but I am aware that it is out there.

They did something similar with the initial marketing of the Denny Zeitlin Select (and it worked, cuz I bought one!). The on-line description of the Zeitlin currently on the Mosaic site doesn't reflect this, but I'm just sure I read something (from Mosaic) that piqued my curiosity, and I could swear it was along these same lines.

And now is the time to put an end to the controversy, once and for all [well, at least for 5,000 to 7,500 of us].

It should be a nice set, and would have been a very good seller on vinyl, in my opinion. MJQ LPs are not scarce, but most are found in seriously played condition.

I wonder who will pen the liner notes..

[golfcrazy1984]

Nah, I disagree... I still have the cheap looks and feel of Collectables, and Wounded Bird is but a tiny bit better and has nearly non-existing distribution (and horrendous prices) over here...

I hate Collectables. It's long been a vortex of lousy remastering and tacky packaging into which much classic music disappears, never to be reissued by anyone else. Mosaic was put off doing a Dakota Staton set by Collectables bringing out its own slapdash releases. I'm hoping that this is a sign that that won't be a problem any more.

Also, isn't this the first Mosaic release of WEA material since the Ellington Reprise set (#193)? And it's the first of Atlantic material since the Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions (#179). That was one of the things that surprised me.

Totally agree with what you are saying! Thanks for posting. I hope this is too a sign of things to come from Mosaic. It's too bad that Mosaic sometimes gets beat out by such shoddy labels such as Collectables.

Crisp, you make another good point, lousy remastering. True, some of this music may be out on the market, but is it remastered to the best sound possible??? Probably not. Not to mention the level of quality and detail that Mosaic puts into the booklet.