Acrobat Music

The Early Years 1952-56
The Early Years 1952-56

The The Modern Jazz Quartet
Styles: Jazz
Catalogue Number: ADDCD3296
The Modern Jazz Quartet were one of the most innovative, distinctive and influential groups in jazz in the 1950s and subsequent decades, pioneering a refined, classically-influenced style of cool jazz which retained the blues-based traditions of the genre, and reflected the changes wrought by bebop, while playing music which was unique and unmistakeable. That music owed much to the interplay of John Lewis’ piano and Milt Jackson’s vibraphone seamlessly underpinned by Percy Heath’s bass. Kenny Clarke was the group’s original drummer, replaced when he left in 1955 by Connie Kay. This great-value 32-track 2-CD set comprises recordings from their first four LP releases for Prestige and Atlantic from their first studio session as the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1952 through to 1955. It features all the titles from their original 10” Prestige LP “The Modern Jazz Quartet”, and from their 12” LPs for Prestige “Django” and Concorde”, plus all the titles from their Atlantic LP “Fontessa”, and selected titles from their Atlantic LP “At Music Inn” (some tracks on that album also featured Jimmy Giuffre, but none of those are included here). It’s a comprehensive overview of the music which established their reputation and captures the essence of their approach during their formative years as a recording unit.

Disk 1:
Track Title Artist
1 All The Things You Are The Modern Jazz Quartet
2 La Ronde The Modern Jazz Quartet
3 Vendome The Modern Jazz Quartet
4 Rose Of The Rio Grande The Modern Jazz Quartet
5 The Queen's Fancy The Modern Jazz Quartet
6 Delaunay's Dilemma The Modern Jazz Quartet
7 Autumn In New York The Modern Jazz Quartet
8 But Not For Me The Modern Jazz Quartet
9 Django The Modern Jazz Quartet
10 One Bass Hit The Modern Jazz Quartet
11 Milano The Modern Jazz Quartet
12 La Ronde Suite / Piano The Modern Jazz Quartet
13 La Ronde Suite / Bass The Modern Jazz Quartet
14 La Ronde Suite / Vibes The Modern Jazz Quartet
15 La Ronde Suite / Drums The Modern Jazz Quartet
16 Concorde The Modern Jazz Quartet
17 Gershwin Medley; Soon, Love Walked In, Love Is Here To Stay, For The Modern Jazz Quartet
18 I'll Remember April The Modern Jazz Quartet
19 All Of You The Modern Jazz Quartet
Disk 2:
Track Title Artist
1 Ralph's New Blues The Modern Jazz Quartet
2 Softly As In A Morning Sunrise The Modern Jazz Quartet
3 Woody'n You The Modern Jazz Quartet
4 Willow Weep For Me The Modern Jazz Quartet
5 Fontessa The Modern Jazz Quartet
6 Versailles The Modern Jazz Quartet
7 Angel Eyes The Modern Jazz Quartet
8 Over The Rainbow The Modern Jazz Quartet
9 Bluesology The Modern Jazz Quartet
10 Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess ? The Modern Jazz Quartet
11 Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West The Modern Jazz Quartet
12 Variation No. 1 On 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' The Modern Jazz Quartet
13 A Morning In Paris The Modern Jazz Quartet
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