The Modern Jazz Quartet

Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz Quartet in 1964 Left to right: Heath, Kay, Jackson, Lewis
Background information
Also known as	The Milt Jackson Quartet, The Quartet, The MJQ
Genres	Jazz
Years active	1946–1974, 1981–1993
Labels	Savoy, Prestige (UK Esquire), Atlantic (UK London), Apple, Douglas
Members	Milt Jackson John Lewis Percy Heath Connie Kay
Past members	Kenny Clarke

The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. The band performed over a 40-year span with only one personnel change. For the majority of their career, the group was composed of John Lewis (piano and musical director), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Percy Heath (double bass) and Connie Kay (drums).

Under Lewis's leadership, they carved their own niche by specializing in elegant, restrained music that used sophisticated counterpoint, yet nonetheless retained a strong blues feel. Lewis firmly believed that J.S. Bach and the blues were compatible, combining classical form with jazz improvisation and polyphony. The band was also noted for its ability to play alongside a variety of other groups. Initially active into the 1970s until Jackson quit in 1974 due to creative disagreement and frustration with their busy touring schedule, the MJQ reformed intermittently into the 1990s.

In 1946, John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Ray Brown (bass) and Kenny Clarke (drums), all members of Dizzy Gillespie's big band, formed a quartet as a side project. By 1951, the combo were recording as the Milt Jackson Quartet. In 1952, Percy Heath replaced Brown on bass and in late 1952 they changed the name to Modern Jazz Quartet. In 1955, the final switch to the band's lineup occurred as Connie Kay (drums) replaced Clarke.

In their middle years, the group often played with classical musicians, but their repertoire consisted mainly of bebop and swing era standards. From 1952 to 1955, the group recorded for Prestige and released two of their most famous compositions, "Django" (a tribute to the guitarist Django Reinhardt) and "Bags' Groove" ("Bags" being Jackson’s nickname). In the late 1950s, they provided soundtrack music for Roger Vadim's film Sait-on Jamais (released in America as No Sun in Venice and in the UK as One Never Knows) and subsequently recorded this music. From 1956 to 1974, they recorded for Atlantic Records, with occasional projects with other record labels such as Apple.