Django [Original recording remastered]

M.j.q, The Modern Jazz Quartet

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 21, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 1955
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Prestige
• ASIN: B000EMGIJ6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,125 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

• This item is part of The Rudy Van Gelder Remasters Series.

Track Listings

1. Django

2. One Bass Hit

3. Ronde Suite: A: Piano/B: Bass/C: Vibes/D: Drums

4. Queen's Fancy

5. Delaunay's Dilemma

6. Autumn in New York

7. But Not for Me

8. Milano

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Kenny Clarke were fresh from serving as the rhythm section in the Dizzy Gillespie orchestra when they went into the studio in 1953 to record--only their second session together. "Autumn in New York," which would go on to become one of the group's staple performances in concert, summarized their cameo-like pictorial strengths. The December 23, 1954 session produced two of the group's enduring masterpieces--"Django," Lewis's tribute to the then-recently deceased French gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt, and "One Bass Hit," with its delightfully understated exchange between Lewis and Jackson. The "La Ronda Suite" fills out a great collection. --John Swenson

Product Description

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2006. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great jazz "classics", December 4, 2002

By	Joost Daalder (South Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Django (Audio CD)

This is, with "Fontessa", the most celebrated of the original MJQ recordings, and rightly so. When it first appeared it was, like that great record, a huge hit on the jazz scene and beyond, and the fact that it appealed to one's parents is in no sense a reason for thinking it anything less than inspiring. "Django", in particular, is just one of those inexhaustible delights in jazz that always sound satisfying, with Percy Heath on bass driving his instrument in amazing melodious fashion, while John Lewis and Milt Jackson both produce totally convincing and beautiful solos - and boy, did they swing, even though those who like their music only loud don't hear that. To say that these men produced "vignettes" is only half true; certainly they were highly disciplined and eschewed "big" effects, but their very subtlety enhanced - did not reduce - the vitality and intensity of their powerful music. Always a joy to listen to, and therefore unhesitatingly recommended. - Joost Daalder

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice, July 4, 2000

By	C. Stern "lincolnstern" (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Django (Audio CD)

Ignore the idiot that gave the fine album a low rating! Without a doubt this is one of the finest albums by one of the finest jazz groups! It is not "Cool Jazz" -- that's the sort of music that gives jazz a bad name and causes fools to forget about the REAL intellectuals of jazz -- and no one could do meditative jazz like MJQ. Like all great jazz, this album is as meaningful as any music can be.

[5 years later] It's still quite good. But, Milt Jackson unleashed without the MJQ is far better, and bouncier. I didn't realize I was such an MJQ fan five years ago!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CHAMBER JAZZ, June 25, 2001

By	Steven Meyers (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Django (Audio CD)

First of all, I prefer the MJQ with Connie Kay. This is really ancient MJQ, Chamber Jazz at the beginning. Not only very innovative for the time, but innovative for any time. There is still no group around today that plays like these guys. The arrangements are very tight, the playing is tight. When I used to go to see the MJQ play in the 60's, they looked tight. Very reserved, very focused, they took their music very seriously. And with the utmost of taste, including the tuxedos. This album is the utmost of taste. Django is very deliberate and stiff as compared to others recordings by them, but this is the first one, so I've got to have it. One Bass Hit, Delaunay's Dilemma, Autumn in New York, all MJQ staples, debut here. Great work by Percy Heath throughout. If you are into the history of jazz, and you want a complete collection, you have to have this work.