Search - Modern Jazz Quartet :: Together Again

The Modern Jazz Quartet disbanded in 1974 as one of the most successful and longest running groups in jazz history, without a personnel change in nearly two decades. They reformed in 1981, and this 1984 session was their first trip to a studio to record new material. Their personnel was intact, and more importantly, so too was their musical charm, an uncanny mix of formality and intimacy, a quiet sophistication that allowed them to blend divergent forms and feelings. The new tunes include the puckish "Watergate Blues" by bassist Percy Heath and pianist John Lewis's further takes on European musical folklore, "That Slavic Smile" and "The Hornpipe." His "Sasha's March" is particularly intriguing, a simple piano piece that assumes other dimensions as it's passed around the group, while "Echoes" and "Connie's Blues" are two more of Milt Jackson's relaxed, elegant tunes that float with an ease all their own. Clearly the group chemistry was still vital, and there's a renewed pleasure in the way they dig into the music. Stuart Broomer