The Modern Jazz Quartet and Me...

The MJQ combined centuries of the blues with the knowledge of how careful form can make improvisation more meaningful - the blending of four individuals into a whole that expresses each one.

writer Nat Hentoff

Modern Jazz Quartet (1952) signed by Percy Heath, Milt Jackson, John Lewis

In clubs, we used to sneak up on them by starting out with a soft ballad medley to get the people to stop talking and rattling their glasses. If they continued to make noise, we played even softer. By the time they were ready to listen, we could play our good stuff.

Percy Heath

Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet (1953) signed by Sonny, Milt, Percy, John

If we didn't play 'Django' in a concert, we risked getting stoned. I mean in the thrown-at sense.

Percy Heath

Django (1955) signed by John, Milt, Percy

John’s music was not easy, you know. The first gig I played, we played all the stuff I heard my whole life. I sat there like I was Connie Kay myself! But the second gig, here at the Blue Note in New York, John wanted to play some of the extended pieces like “A Day in Dubrovnik.” Milt was always argumentative, wanting to play his blues and all that. Milt and John were always in conflict. Percy always thought that John had made Milt – and had made Connie and even Percy too! – because of John’s original music, not because of those blues pieces Milt wrote.

Albert "Tootie' Heath

The Modern Jazz Quartet (1957) signed by John, Milt, Percy

The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) played for nearly forty-three years and they had only two substitutions during their lengthy touring and recording career. The original band members - John Lewis on piano, Milt Jackson on vibraphone, Ray Brown on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums - met when they played in Dizzy Gillespie's big band in the mid-1940s. The rhythm section would play an interlude between the big band sets. As Ray Brown said, ''Dizzy had a lot of high parts for the brass in that group, so he said, 'I have to give these guys' lips a little rest during concerts, and while they're resting, you should play something.' '' The audiences loved it so much that they left to start the Milt Jackson Quartet in 1950, and then, the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1952 when Percy Heath replaced Ray Brown. Connie Kay replaced Kenny Clarke in 1955 and the MJQ personnel would remain intact until Connie's unfortunate stroke in 1992.

No Sun In Venice (1957) signed by Milt, John, Percy

The Grand Canal, Venice painted by J.M.W. Turner 1835

It was an incredible and unprecedented run considering they hated each other. Drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, brother of Percy, explains: when MJQ was traveling they took "two separate limos. Also, they asked for the four corners in first class, to be as far from each other as possible. These guys did not get along. Until they got onstage, when it was phenomenal. Well, they would play cards up until showtime. During the card-playing they would get loosened up, start laughing a bit. But after the gig, bam, they were strangers. Amazing! Forty-two years of this bullshit."

Anthology (1960( signed by Percy, Milt

They were four unique and talented individuals.

John Lewis was a classically trained pianist and the principal composer.His songs were baroque, elegant, and funereal. A direct contrast to the florid jazz piano of Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson, John Lewis' manner and mode could well have been borrowed from Mies Van Der Rohe's dictum "less is more." His lyrical restraint was also influenced by the classical composers Bach, Bartok and Stravinsky, especially on Blues on Bach, a 1973 release which featured MJQ's interpretations on Bach compositions.

Blues On Bach (1973) signed by John, Milt, Percy

Milt Jackson was the vibraphonist. If Lionel Hampton helped to popularize the vibraphone in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, Milt became its virtuoso thereafter. Milt loved the blues and wrote the jazz standards, "Bag's Groove", "The Late Late Blues", and "Bluesology." There was no one more swinging and bluesy than "Bags." He was nicknamed "Bags", it was said, after he showed up for a gig after a late night of revelry with his eyes bleary and swollen. I heard a different story which I will share another time....

The Sheriff (1964) signed by John, Milt, Percy

Artwork by Stanislaw Zagorski

Percy Heath was the bassist and the oldest brother of the renowned Heath brothers, a jazz family. Percy was tall, 6'3", all sinewy limbs and long fingers as he thumped and thwacked his upright bass, setting an immaculate groove. He was also an accomplished cellist.

Third Stream Music (1960) signed by John. Milt, Percy

Drawing by Dino Abidine

Connie Kay was a drummer who played with Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker before joining MJQ, In addition, he played drums for Atlantic Records in the early 1950s on Big Joe Turner's "Shake Rattle and Roll" and some early Ruth Brown R&B classics. Connie was one of the only drummers in the 1950s to play chimes, finger cymbals, timpani, and triangle, and John Lewis' compositions were richer with his deft shadings and contributions. It is not a straight line from Connie's enhanced drum kit in the 1950s to the mega-kit of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich in the 2000s, but it had to start somewhere!

The Best Of The Modern Jazz Quartet (1970) signed by John, Milt, Percy

I saw MJQ twice: once at the Café Carlyle (aka "The House That Bobby Short Built") and at The Blue Note in New York City. The Carlyle gig was extraordinary. The band was dressed impeccably in tuxedos and presented a recital of their unique chamber jazz. Mickey Roker was sitting in on drums as Connie Kay had just suffered a debilitating stroke. I brought along a couple of albums and they were gracious in signing.

Fontessa (1956) signed by John, Milt, Percy

drawing by Norman Sunshine

At The Blue Note in 1993, I saw MJQ again with some unlikely guests. I had been at a bar with some friends after work and I mentioned that I would be leaving shortly to see MJQ. My friend, who was anything but a jazz fan, stopped me cold. "Wait a minute, my dad used to have a cassette in his 1973 Thunderbird and the only thing he played was The Modern Jazz Quartet. Can I come with?" "Sure" I said uneasily. "But MJQ is a very serious band, so we need to be on best behavior", I counseled. "Not a problem", he assured me.

Under The Jasmine Tree (1968) signed by John, Milt, Percy

So we roll into the Blue Note raucous and well lubricated, and the bar is surprisingly empty except a tuxedoed John Lewis who is ordering a drink. I intercept the bartender, with "This one's on me, Mr. Lewis. We're really big fans and I'd like to introduce you to my friends." Danny Sullivan then goes into his dad's Thunderbird cassette story and we're all laughing and slapping each other's backs. John leaves and then Percy Heath comes to the bar from his upstairs dressing room. I buy him a drink and we do the same shtick. Each band member signed a bunch of albums and they enjoyed their libations with my boisterous friends. The show was great, of course, until one of my friends lit up something he shouldn't have. Fortunately, I didn't get thrown out, but he did. His nickname wasn't "The Wrench" by accident, it was justly earned. MJQ finished their impressive performance without further disturbance.