The Modern Jazz Quartet

image source: San Francisco Chronicle October 5, 1954

The Modern Jazz Quartet first appeared in San Francisco on October 4, 1954 at the Blackhawk nightclub, 200 Hyde Street. Esteemed San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic, Ralph Gleason, wrote about their appearance:

The Modern Jazz Quartet ... represents the new approach to jazz. Schooled musicians, jazz men, too, they have brought forethought, planning and discipline to their music as well as the extemporaneous fire of jazz improvisations... The members of the group--John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Milt Jackson, vibes, and Kenny Clark, drums--are among the most serious of the modern jazz men, and yet the charm of their music is that they are not so serious that they do not have fun.

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz characterizes the music of the Modern Jazz Quartet as "cool jazz" in a "conservative bebop style." They were all, in fact, seasoned bebop musicians who performed in Dizzy Gillespie's band. 

The Modern Jazz Quartet is notable for merging jazz, original a genre of dance music or entertainment, with elements of classical music. In that regard, they along with Duke Ellington and others brought jazz from the dance hall to the concert hall. This genre was sometimes called Third Stream Music.

advertisement from the San Francisco Ballet program

After a stint in the army during World War II, pianist John Lewis studied at the Manhattan School of Music. He soon joined Gillespie's group and later also worked and recorded with Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young and Charlie Parker. He also worked with Miles Davis as a pianist and arranger on the Birth of The Cool sessions in the late 1950s.

Program cover for the San Francisco Ballet's performance of Original Sin

Locally, Lewis collaborated with choreographer Lew Christensen and poet Kenneth Rexroth in the creation of Original Sin, a ballet in two scenes, written for the San Francisco Ballet that premiered on April 14, 1961.

An advertisement in the program details the miniature scores published by MJQ Music Inc., Lewis's imprint.

We have several of the MJQ Music scores in our collection. These include several works by John Lewis:

Excerpts from The Comedy, 1957-1959, for solo piano, 4 trumpets, 4 horns, 2 trombones, tuba, percussion, and double bass.

The Golden Striker: 1957, for solo piano, bass, percussion, 4 trumpets, 4 horns, 2 trombones, and tuba

Jazz Ostinato, For jazz quartet (vibraharp, piano, drums, double bass) and orchestra.

Sketch: For double quartet (1959), for jazz quartet (piano, vibraphone, percussion, and double bass) and string quartet.

The Spiritual, for jazz quartet (vibraharp, piano, drums, double bass) and orchestra.

We offer several Modern Jazz Quartet albums as streaming audio. We also have the four vinyl LP albums available to borrow in the Art, Music & Recreation Center

The Last Concert (Atlantic, 1975). 

More from the Last Concert (Atlantic, 1981).

No Sun in Venice: original film score, by John Lewis (Atlantic, 1958).

Under the Jasmin Tree (Apple, 1968).

Bibliography:

Coady, Christopher. John Lewis and the Challenge of "Real" Black Music (University of Michigan Press, 2016)

Gleason, Ralph, "Oldest and Newest in Jazz In S.F. Spots This Week," San Francisco Chronicle October 7, 1954.

Gleason, Ralph J. Celebrating the Duke, and Louis, Bessie, Billie, Bird, Carmen, Miles, Dizzy, and other Heroes (Little, Brown, 1975).

Owens, Thomas, "Modern Jazz Quartet," in The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, edited by Barry Kernfeld (Grove's Dictionaries Inc., 2002).

San Francisco Ballet. Spring Season 1961. Alcazar Theatre [program].

Schuller, Gunther. "Third Stream," in The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, edited by Barry Kernfeld (Grove's Dictionaries Inc., 2002).

image source: album jacket for The Last Concert, photograph by David Gahr