Search - Modern Jazz Quartet :: Blues at Carnegie Hall [MFSL Audiophile Original Master Recording]

An Easy, Melodic Blues

Kevin Currie-Knight | Newark, Delaware | 04/18/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"All fans of the Modern Jazz Quartet, a group that finds me squarely in it, are aware of the Quartet's 'stuffy' reputation. And we are also aware of how ill-deserved this monicker is. It is true that skeptics, however, might look at this album title and wonder whether it is sometkhing of a curiosity. Blues...at Carnegie Hall? Does that mean stuffy jazz played while wearing bow-ties?



While the MJQ might have worn bow-ties for this performance - they often did - the music is certainly not stuffy. Granted, this is not the Jimmy Smith-stype greasy, burning, blues. But it is a sparkler just the same.



The Modern jazz Quartet plays a cooler, more melododically-laden blues. The soul is still there; it is just a blues with a bit more thought behind it - a bit more deliberation. John Lewis is a case in point. We all know Milt Jackson was a great blues soloist. But I am not sure Lewis gets credit for being as great a soloist as he was. Of course, as he is so miniamistic, every note has a rhyme and reason. So, the music is as bluesy as any, but it is more melodically so.



Anyone who wants to hear a really tight ensemble play some of their best music should hear this disc. If you are interested in the blues, this is the type that you don't hear everyday.

"

One of the most beautiful jazz albums I have ever heard

Kevin Currie-Knight | 02/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard this album on records in 1968 while at a party at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and the music went through me and consumed my entire being,it was as if I heard it with my whole body and not just my ears. I found Milt Jackson's and John Lewis' vibraharp and piano very exciting. The word "corruscating" was u sed on the sleeve of the record to describe Jackson's notes, I did not know what it meant before I heard the record but when I did, I just knew what corruscating was. I enjoyed every track on the album. Unfortunatly, I lost my own copy of it and am very happy to re-discover it today."

Blues at Carnegie Hall [GOLD CD] [LIVE] ~ The MJQ Quartet

Mark J. Heyl | 08/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Found 2 at obscure Vinyl/CD store Bought both opened 1.Incredible sound! Special Note: they are 24K GOLD, Sound is smooth & velvty!! If you can find it get it, It is a Master Recording. not a copy..Personally I would give it 10 Stars!! Took me 3 weeks to open 1 of 2 Still have 1 unopened this 1 going into vault,No jive it's that precious,So all you MJQ Fans Try searching those little Independant stores you might get LUCKY"