Customer Reviews

Complete Last Concert

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I wish I'd been there on the night of November 25, 1974 as the MJQ took the stage at Avery Fisher Hall. It was a concert that was truly a climactic end to the Modern Jazz Quartet's 22 years. (At the time it was not known that they would reassemble ten years later, albeit without as much musical interest.) John Lewis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Connie Kay played their hearts out, creating some of the finest renditions of their repertoire ever. Fortunately, every note was captured in crystal-clear sound and is on this 2-CD set.

As for highlights...there are so many the whole set could just be called one continuous highlight of the quartet's legacy. But there are some standouts: the opening, disarmingly-complex "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise," the bluesy "Summertime," the funky "True Blues," the smokey "'Round Midnight" (featuring one of Milt's best solos on record for which he gets a deserved spirited ovation), the very sweet and sentimental "Skating In Central Park," the virtuostic "Blues in A minor," the delicate "One Never Knows," the energetic "Jasmine Tree," and two encores that are the group's signature pieces, "Django" and (of course!) "Bags' Groove" in what I promise you is the wildest rendition of this piece you will ever hear. All the selections have intricacy and interplay (each man knew when the other was going to breathe) beyond what can be described here. Suffice it to say these four men get textures, colors and tones that are quite unlike any other jazz group, and any other group of musicians in any genre. It's hard to appreciate today how innovative their approach was in the 1950s and 60s because so much of what they've done has become so assimilated by pop, jazz, TV and movie music, and classical. (Of course, they did a lot of assimilating of their own; it was a symbiotic relationship.)

Despite the overall high quality of music here, there are a few lowlights, and they underscore the reasons the MJQ became unglued and, frankly, *needed* to disband. They were being pushed more and more into Lewis' Third-Stream mode towards the end, and a lot of the compositions were forced and contrived. (Of course this conflict existed from the beginning, but Jackson and co. managed to actually feed off the tension. By the late 60s, though, Jackson was sounding in a rut.) I love the Third-Stream movement of music (and if you don't know what this is, go to any good music dictionary and look up "Gunther Schuller"), and wish more exploration had been done in this area (the economics made it prohibitive). But many of Lewis' "serious" compositions are, honestly, pretentious hybirds that Jackson and the others never could quite get down on. The audience applauds politely, but there's not much real enthusiasm for the sprawling and unoriginal "In Memoriam," the dry, dutiful reading of Rodrigo's famous "Concierto de Aranjuez" or the incredibly pretentious "Tears For The Children." (With a title like this you know it's going to be pretentious, and it delivers.) These tunes were kept off the original LP of this concert, and frankly, it was no loss. It's worth having here only for completeness' sake.

Still, these are but small nicks on a great masterpiece of an historic evening. If there were only a handful of jazz albums I could own, this would be one of them. (Pyramid and The Comedy would be two other MJQ albums on that list.) Of course we all know the group got back together again, but they never again made music like this.

If you are looking for an answer to the question what the Modern Jazz Quartet is all about, you have come to the right place. In 1974, the MJQ had been in existence for almost 20 years, and vibraharpist Milt Jackson (now sadly deceased) became tired of the somewhat rigid structure of the quartet. Thus, the MJQ decided to disband and to give one more concert at New York's Avery Fisher Hall. Here, sensing that this might really be the last time they had a chance to play these songs, the quartet gave every tune a special treatment.
The classical aspect of their music, so often likened to chamber-music, is well displayed in several tunes from their "Blues on Bach" album, but if you listen to Milt Jackson when he swirls and weaves his melody around the steady pulse by both drums and bass, you realize that this interpretation is beyond both classical music and Jazz. However, their reading of "Concierto de Aranjuez" is far closer to the original than the one done by Miles Davis on "Sketches of Spain".
Standards such as "Summertime" and "'Round Midnight", as well as tunes that recall the quartet's origin in Dizzy Gillespie's band, such as "Confirmation" and "A Night in Tunisia", are also present. But mostly the tunes are by pianist John Lewis and, with stronger leanings to the blues, by Milt Jackson. Lewis' "Skatin' in Central Park" and "One Never Knows", for example, are both lovely ballads, whereas Jackson's "Really True Blues" and "The Cylinder" are more deeply rooted in the realm of Jazz and Blues.
This only shows how much the music and the programme of the band was always built around the contrasting musical personalities of John Lewis, the quartet's musical director, and Milt Jackson, their main soloist, who embodies perfectly grace, style, time and swing at the same time. He was certainly one of the great masters of Jazz, and his at times forceful and energetic, but also often cool and crisp playing is to me the main attraction of the quartet. This edition is the first complete rendition of the now legendary concert (needless to say that they gave many more afterwards), and for that fact alone, the CD deserves six stars. If your new to the MJQ, you cannot find a better and more comprehensive collection of their playing. If you are a fan, what took you so long to get this marvellous highlight of their career? Get it!

The quartet pulls no punches in their greatest set. Mr Jackson and Mr Heath swing as never before. Mr Lewis' subtle piano solos are enjoyable. Also, Mr Kay's versatility shines through. The MJQ is a wonderful group to hear live and these CDs capture the essence of the love and joy that they put into their music even to this very day.

The MJQ's instruments -- drums, piano, bass, vibes -- strip jazz down to its essence. If you're looking for shouting blues choruses, screaming trumpets, or honking saxes, you've come to the wrong place. But if you want 200 proof Jazz, you've found it! With this unassuming ensemble, every note is a sonnet, every solo artistry. The first few notes of the concert -- starting with a few notes on the piano, followed by a fat bass BONG, and then the vibes -- never fail to start a shudder going down my spine. The silent intervals, which rarely happen in big bands, are particularly beautiful here. This is the coolest of the cool jazz. GET THIS CD!...................................... --koby.

This recording was made in 1974 when they thought that the group would never play together again. So all the stops were pulled out, and all their favorite songs were played. And played well. If you've never heard the Quartet, you're in for a treat. If you love them, prepare to love them more.

This is a fine album, with good to very good live versions of some classic MJQ tunes. However, the quartet's "last concert" was not really their best. At times, the music on these discs is a bit too staid and careful, and one gets the feeling that the decision to disband (temporarily, as it turned out) was motivated at least in part by a slight loss of enthusiasm for a project in which these musicians had been engaged, by 1974, for over two decades. This impression is reinforced by the inclusion, in this CD reissue, of some of the weaker material that was wisely omitted from the original 2-LP set.

The excitement the MJQ at its best generated in live performance is much better captured by the excellent "Dedicated to Connie" (ASIN B000002J4T) and "European Concert" (ASIN B000058TGY, but currently out of print). Both were recorded in Europe in 1960, when the group was at the height of its ability but still had something to prove, and both feature taut, committed performances of an intensity that "The Last Concert" doesn't quite match.

I'm not sure -- other than in formal classical music -- that I've ever heard anything as moving as Milt Jackson's vibes solo on the adagio from Concerto de Aranjuez. Yeah, the piece is over-recorded but, WOW.

If you are an MJQ fan, or just a jazz fan, this is a must have 2 CD set! This is, as the title says The Last Concert and was recorded in Germany at a concert there. Being an MJQ fan, it was an obvious choice for me. I purchased the set through Amazon at a VERY reasonable price, and received it long before the projected time. The music is superb, from a much loved group, who have gone their own ways, who just thought the time had come to end the quartet. There are many more titles of the Group's work at Amazon, Blues on Bach and Four Classic Albums, to name but two! Check them out!

This 'GIANT' of the past Jazz scene is well known among serious listeners. They donot disappoint on this CD, easy to listen to and enjoy.

This was recording of the MJQ live as oppposed to a studio recording, and as a result, brought more depth to the music.This disc is not readily available from retail outlets in the UK and I consider myself lucky to have obtained it.