The Modern Jazz Quartet 1984 - Together Again - ''Echoes'' / Pablo Records Audio CD / CD 2312.142

UPC 09020400602 / 025218014229

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000000XLV

• Milt Jackson - vibraphone
• John Lewis - piano
• Percy Heath - bass
• Connie Kay - drums

Echoes is an album by American jazz group the Modern Jazz Quartet featuring performances recorded in 1984 and released on the Pablo label.

The Modern Jazz Quartet disbanded in 1974 as one of the most successful and longest running groups in jazz history, without a personnel change in nearly two decades. They reformed in 1981, and this 1984 session was their first trip to a studio to record new material. Their personnel was intact, and more importantly, so too was their musical charm, an uncanny mix of formality and intimacy, a quiet sophistication that allowed them to blend divergent forms and feelings. The new tunes include the puckish "Watergate Blues" by bassist Percy Heath and pianist John Lewis's further takes on European musical folklore, "That Slavic Smile" and "The Hornpipe." His "Sasha's March" is particularly intriguing, a simple piano piece that assumes other dimensions as it's passed around the group, while "Echoes" and "Connie's Blues" are two more of Milt Jackson's relaxed, elegant tunes that float with an ease all their own. Clearly the group chemistry was still vital, and there's a renewed pleasure in the way they dig into the music. - Stuart Broomer 

The Allmusic review stated "The MJQ's return was one of the happiest events in jazz of the 1980s".

Tracklist:

1. "That Slavic Smile" - 8:00
2. "Echoes" (Milt Jackson) - 7:08
3. "The Watergate Blues" (Percy Heath) - 6:04
4. "The Hornpipe" - 8:16
5. "Connie's Blues" (Milt Jackson) - 7:29
6. "Sacha's March" - 7:54

The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Percy Heath (double bass), and Connie Kay (drums). The group grew out of the rhythm section of Dizzy Gillespie's big band from 1946 to 1948, which consisted of Lewis and Jackson along with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Kenny Clarke. They recorded as the Milt Jackson Quartet in 1951 and Brown left the group, being replaced on bass by Heath. During the early-to-mid-1950s they became the Modern Jazz Quartet, Lewis became the group's musical director, and they made several recordings with Prestige Records, including the original versions of their two best-known compositions, Lewis's "Django" and Jackson's "Bags' Groove". Clarke left the group in 1955 and was replaced as drummer by Connie Kay, and in 1956 they moved to Atlantic Records and made their first tour to Europe.

Under Lewis's direction, they carved their own niche by specializing in elegant, restrained music that used sophisticated counterpoint inspired by baroque music, yet nonetheless retained a strong blues feel. Noted for their elegant presentation, they were one of the first small jazz combos to perform in concert halls rather than nightclubs. They were initially active into the 1970s until Jackson quit in 1974 due to frustration with their finances and touring schedule, but re-formed in 1981. They made their last released recordings in 1992 and 1993, by which time Kay had been having health issues and Mickey Roker had been his replacement drummer while Kay was unavailable. After Kay's death in 1994, the group operated on a semi-active basis, with Percy Heath's brother Albert Heath on drums until the group disbanded permanently in 1997.