Modern Jazz Quartet - 35th Anniversary Concert DVD

This 35th Anniversary Concert performance by bebop veterans The Modern Jazz Quartet was filmed at the International Music Festival in Freiburg in 1987. Although they had formally disbanded in 1974, they reformed when they realised there was still a strong public appetite for their music and continued to tour. A vehicle for the formidable compositional and arranging skills of pianist John Lewis, as well as the suave and elaborate vibes playing of Milt "Bags" Jackson, the MJQ came to epitomise in the 1950s the "cool jazz" originally proposed by Miles Davis. Academic,... impeccably attired and with Lewis in particular influenced by Classical and Baroque music, they rejected the wilder, freewheeling excesses of bebop in favour of a more sober, though no less rewarding approach to jazz. The MJQ sound, much imitated, became emblematic of the 1960s modernist chic. This 60-minute performance indicates that even in later years the MJQ remained pristine. Sporting matching white tuxedoes, they recapture the cut-glass elegance of their heyday with effortless grace. On Duke Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm", Jackson works up a quiet storm, while Lewis comes to the fore on "Kansas City Breaks", his piano runs reminiscent of Debussy, while the extended suite, "A Day in Dubrovnik" is a vivid, idyllic tone-poem dedicated to that ill-fated town. On the DVD: clocking in at just 60 minutes this is a very short disc and there are no extra features. But at least the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound quality is uniformly excellent, bringing crystal clarity to Jackson's vibes playing in particular.--David Stubbs [show more]

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