Jazz breaking news: Beatles’ Label Finally Releases Rare MJQ Albums
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
After being out of print for more than 40 years the Beatles Apple label is finally reissuing its two Modern Jazz Quartet albums from the late-1960s.
Under the Jasmin Tree from 1968 and Space from 1969 are combined on a 10-track CD that also includes a previously unreleased track and will be available in-store and on download from 25 October as part of a large Apple label reissue campaign.
Tracks are: ‘The Blue Necklace’, mysterious and spacey sounding, coloured by Milt Jackson’s vibes; the suite ‘Three Little Feelings (Part I, II, III), clocking in at just under 14 and a half minutes driven initially by Percy Heath’s careful paced bass; the slow ‘Exposure’; uptempo ‘The Jasmin Tree’ with syncopated clapping; the sped-up sci fi-like ‘Visitor From Venus’; Eastern sounding ‘Visitor From Mars’; a conventional ballad ‘Here’s That Rainy Day (Carnival of Flanders); then ‘Dilemma’; popular classical piece ‘Adagio From Concerto de Aranjuez’; and their previously unreleased interpretation of the Beatles song, ‘Yesterday.’
There has been little MJQ release activity this year, the last major reissue was a Warners anthology Bluesology: The Atlantic Years 1956-1988 which came out in July 2009 compiled by Florence Halfon.
The Modern Jazz Quartet which originally included the drummer Kenny Clarke was one of the longest running jazz groups of its kind in jazz history. Founded in 1952 it became identified with a nascent form of chamber jazz. Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath and Connie Kay would stay together (following Clarke’s departure in 1955) until 1974, then picking up again in 1981 and remained active until 1993.
They were introduced to the Beatles by Apple records’ first boss Ron Kass who was friendly with Monte Kay who managed the MJQ. Head of A&R at Apple Peter Asher, who supervised Space which was produced by John Lewis, told Record Collector magazine recently: ‘It was quite radical – remember, he was all suits and ties and trying to get jazz taken seriously, like classical music.”
– Stephen Graham