Jazz Articles about Mastersounds

The Mastersounds: The Mastersounds

by David Rickert
August 15, 2002

The instrumentation and gentlemanly postures on the cover of The Mastersounds certainly hint at a band who tried to work the same territory as the Modern Jazz Quartet. Once voted best new small combo by the Down Beat Critics’ Poll, the group eventually disbanded in 1960 but reconvened to record the two sessions featured here. Indeed, one can hear the same formality as the MJQ in the Mastersounds, but the problem is that the approach isn’t really all that captivating. ...