Though their popularity was truly international, John Lewis once informed me that from the very start the MJQ's most appreciative audiences were in Europe, hence their almost yearly visits and the cache of recordings they left in their wake. The 13 previously unreleased tapes the MJQ made for German radio between 1956 and 1958, include Kurt Elderhagen's fingerpoppin’ big band arrangement of ‘Bluesology’. While slightly less successful is the Orchestra's distracting contribution to ‘Django’. Elsewhere the quartet mix Lewis's originals with standards that include ‘You Go To My Head’, ‘I Can't Get Started’ and Milt Jackson's poignant unaccompanied interpretation of ‘Tenderly’. In truth, The European Concerts should really have been correctly labeled The Scandinavian Concerts as they were compiled from performances staged in Stockholm and Gothenburg.

When the MJQ performed live, it was inevitable that ‘Django’, ‘Milano’, ‘La Ronde’, ‘Vendome’, ‘Bags’ Groove’ and the likes would figure in their set list – these were the hits that established them and what audiences wanted to hear. As with Monk, it mattered not how many times they reran these familiar themes, they were just the framework around which they constructed their immaculate improvisations and as these superbly detailed recorded performances confirm, they never sounded tired or predictable. Here they dispel any preconceived notions of being stuffshirted and humourless and if just one example needs to be put forward to define precisely what made the MJQ so unique look no further than these 15 performances. They've never sounded better. You want more titles? OK, try ‘Festival Sketch’, ‘Odds Against Tomorrow’, ‘I Remember Clifford’, ‘Pyramid’ etc.