The members of the Modern Jazz Quartet—for most of the group’s life, pianist John Lewis, drummer Connie Kay, bassist Percy Heath, and Milt “Bags” Jackson on vibes—possessed a common musical vision as telepathic as any in modern music. They simultaneously personified the deft, light sound of “third stream jazz” (combining jazz improvisation with classical European artistic techniques), while remaining true to both the sense of propulsive swing and the blues. Lewis is generally considered the leader, and the quartet’s repertory is constructed almost entirely from his compositions. But Jackson’s sense of funky swing—to which their classic “Bags’ Groove” pays homage—is also enormously important to the dynamics of the group.
The Modern Jazz Quartet had its roots in the rhythm section of Dizzy GILLESPIE’S big band: it was initially a convenient way to give the horns a chance to catch their breath during shows. The original unit included Jackson, Lewis, drummer Kenny Clarke, and bassist Ray Brown. They first recorded together, as the Milt Jackson Quartet, in the early 1950s. By the time these first recordings were issued, in 1952, Brown had been replaced by Percy Heath. In 1955, Connie Kay replaced Clarke, who moved to Paris in 1956 and remained there until his death in 1985.
Lewis studied music and anthropology at the University of New Mexico. After serving in the army he replaced Thelonious MONK as pianist and arranger in Gillespie’s band. Between 1945 and 1950, Lewis recorded sessions with Charlie PARKER, and with Miles DAVIS’S influential nonet (nine-piece group) of 1949.
Milt Jackson is widely recognised as one of the leading musicians on vibes. His beautiful sound (matching percussive attack with long, slow vibrato) and harmonic agility are the key to the appeal of the group. Jackson studied music at Michigan State University and travelled to New York around 1945, after Gillespie heard him in a Detroit combo. Jackson worked with Gillespie, then freelanced with Howard McGhee, Tadd Dameron, Thelonious Monk, and Woody Herman before rejoining Gillespie in 1950 on piano and vibes.
Percy Heath spent more than two years as an air force fighter pilot before moving to New York in 1947 to play with Howard McGhee’s sextet. Heath worked with Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, and J. J. Johnson before joining Gillespie’s group in 1950.
Connie Kay began his professional career in the early 1940s, playing with Miles Davis at Mintoni’s around 1945, and with Lester YOUNG from 1949 to 1950, and again from 1952 to 1955. Seemingly most concerned with brushwork and delicate counterpoint, Kay was the perfect replacement for Clarke in 1955.
The unit released consistently excellent albums for decades. Beginning in the early 1960s, the Modern Jazz Quartet disbanded every summer by mutual consent, so that the individual members (especially Jackson) could perform and record in different contexts. They disbanded “for good” in 1974. But the members fitfully reunited for several concert tours and festival appearances, then in the early 1980s agreed to reform the ensemble for several months each year.
Lewis is often referred to as a leading proponent of “cool jazz” because of his astringent style as both composer and pianist. He is also often singled out as a champion of “third stream music”; the underappreciated Blues on Bach (1974) is an exquisite example of this fusion of musical styles. He once described his own music as “economical and transparent,” and is an articulate symbol of the capacity of jazz to make light of the barriers between bebop, European classical, blues and gospel, and the avant-garde.
Chris Slawecki
SEE ALSO:
BIG BAND JAZZ; BLUES; COOL JAZZ; FUNK; GOSPEL.
Goldberg, Joe. Jazz Masters of the Fifties (New York: Da Capo Press, 1983).
Blues on Bach; European Concert; The Last Concert; Odds Against Tomorrow; Third Stream Music; Together Again.