Jazz Articles about Milt Jackson

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 ...

The Modern Jazz Quartet: The Music Inn

by Elliott Simon
November 5, 2003

...in our desire for beauty in all things we are open, and one in our search for that little city of gold where the flute-player never wearies, and the spring never fades, and the oracle is not silent, that little city which is the house of art, and where, with all the Music of the Spheres, and the laughter of the gods, Art waits for her worshippers-Oscar Wilde In 1950, while Senator McCarthy spearheaded his anti-artistic witch hunts, ...

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 ...

Milt Jackson: Soul Route

by C. Michael Bailey
January 1, 2002

Two late great bluesmen.

Soul Route is a funky little confederation that brings together perhaps the two most sensitive blues sensibilities in jazz on a single recording— the late Milt Jackson and the late Gene Harris. Recorded during the former's productive ten-year association with Norman Granz and Pablo Records, Soul Route may be credited with sparking the reemergence of Idaho pianist Harris, who had spent a number of years in retirement following his long and successful leadership of The Three ...

Milt Jackson: Wizard of the Vibes

by AAJ Staff
October 1, 2001

The pairing of the Modern Jazz Quartet and Blue Note Records seems somehow incongruent. Blue Note was the home of hard bop--blues- and gospel-influenced, down to earth and funky. The MJQ navigated the Third Stream--sophisticated, refined, classically oriented and formal. They even performed in tuxedoes.

But there was a hefty dose of blues to the MJQ's Bach, most of it courtesy of vibraphonist Milt Jackson. Jackson's masterful blues-oriented improvisations are on fine display here on his only Blue Note outing. ...

The Modern Jazz Quartet: European Concert

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

Ironically, The Modern Jazz Quartet's European Concert album finally is released on CD for the first time just before the passing of the third member of the legendary group, reducing the survivors to one: Percy Heath, who also is a member of one of the leading family triumvirates in jazz. Listed as one of the favorite MJQ albums by many of its fans, European Concert initially was released as a double-album package documenting the group's performances throughout Scandinavia in 1960. ...

Milt Jackson: Sunflower

by Douglas Payne
November 1, 1999

After years on the road with the Modern Jazz Quartet and a series of sterling solo and all-star jazz performances, vibraphonist Milt Jackson decided it was time to see some green. Watching kids half his age, possessing half his talent, earn millions playing rock, he insisted he could earn more without the restraints of the MJQ. He sought out Creed Taylor in 1972 and Sunflower became his first (and best) of three CTI albums. The album is significant ...