Jazz Articles about Milt Jackson

Remembering Milt Jackson

by Lazaro Vega
March 27, 2017

This interview was first published at All About Jazz in November 1999 and is part of our ongoing effort to archive pre-database material. This interview was conducted prior to a Modern Jazz Quartet performance at Hope College, Holland, Michigan in September of 1989. Broadcast at the time on Blue Lake Public Radio; portions of this interview appeared in an advance article published by the Grand Rapids Press. Jackson spoke from his home in Teaneck, N.J. Lazaro ...

Milt Jackson: Sunflower / Goodbye

by Jakob Baekgaard
September 28, 2016

Even if vibes player Milt Jackson had just played with The Modern Jazz Quartet and not embarked on a solo career, his place in jazz history would be secure. However, Jackson was much more than a vital part of the famous chamber jazz group and he recorded a string of excellent albums, including three sessions as a leader for Creed Taylor's label, CTI. Two of those albums are now conveniently gathered in a single-disc package from British ...

Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet

by Marc Davis
August 18, 2014

And now, a crossroads: At what price do I pass? It's the dilemma all collectors face eventually. At first, you buy the commons. A used CD at $4 is a no-brainer. A new CD at $10 or $12, easy to justify. But what do you do when the easies are gone and the price makes you think twice? I've reached that point. My mission is to collect all the Blue Note CDs in the classic 1500 ...

Milt Jackson: Sunflower

by John Kelman
February 6, 2011

With a series of mainstream dates to his credit dating back to the early 1950s—not to mention charter membership in the now-legendary Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) and one-offs with everyone from bop saxophonist Charlie Parker to “new thing" saxophonist John Coltrane—vibraphonist Milt Jackson was the clear link between his instrument's swing era beginnings with Lionel Hampton and more progressive things to come with then-relative youngsters Gary Burton and Bobby Hutcherson. Still—and despite the label's centrist-leaning proclivities on one hand, balancing ...

Milt Jackson: Da Capo

by Nic Jones
February 19, 2007

Milt Jackson was to the vibraphone what Bud Powell was to the piano, in terms of how he disseminated the expansive harmonic vocabulary of bebop. This set, featuring both his early small group work and a fledgling Modern Jazz Quartet, indicates just how expansive his music was in the first decades of his career.

“Baggy Eyes" and “Autumn Breeze (In A Beautiful Mood)" are the earliest tracks on offer here, dating from April of 1948. They catch Jackson at a ...

Milt Jackson: Things are Getting Better; Bags Meets Wes

by Donald Elfman
October 21, 2005

Milt “Bags Jackson gained international notoriety as the vibraphonist and co-leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet, in which setting his rich and warm sense of the blues, his solid swing and his mastery of technique on his instrument provided a somewhat more animated complement to the slightly more delicate and ethereal playing of pianist John Lewis (though it must be said that Lewis could swing and dig into the blues with the best of them!). These qualities enabled Jackson to ...

Milt Jackson/Wes Montgomery: Bags Meets Wes

by David Rickert
March 1, 2002

It’s unfair to blame Wes Montgomery for the soulless work of those who claim him as an influence; his trademark octave runs became a cash cow for the smooth jazz associated with the piped-in music of doctor’s offices and grocery stores. In reality, Montgomery was a much sought-after player by many; even Coltrane played with him for a time. Montgomery gives the impression that playing the guitar requires no less concentration than tying your shoes, fashioning a style admired (and ...