Milt Jackson | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | Milton Jackson (1923-01-01)January 1, 1923 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | October 9, 1999(1999-10-09) (aged 76) Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | The Modern Jazz Quartet |
Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an Americanjazzvibraphonist.[1] He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of theModern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating withhard bop andpost-bop players.
A very expressive player, Jackson differentiated himself from other vibraphonists in his attention to variations on harmonics and rhythm. He was particularly fond of thetwelve-bar blues at slow tempos. On occasion, Jackson also sang and played piano.
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Jackson was born on January 1, 1923, inDetroit, Michigan, United States,[1] the son of Manley Jackson and Lillie Beaty Jackson. Like many of his contemporaries, he was surrounded by music from an early age, particularly that of religious meetings: "Everyone wants to know where I got that funky style. Well, it came from church. The music I heard was open, relaxed, impromptu soul music" (quoted inNat Hentoff's liner notes toPlenty, Plenty Soul). He started on guitar when he was seven, and then on piano at 11.[2]
While attending Miller High School, he played drums, timpani and violin, and also sang in the choir. At 16, he sang professionally in a local touring gospel quartet called the Evangelist Singers. He took up the vibraphone at 16 after hearingLionel Hampton play the instrument inBenny Goodman's band. Jackson was discovered byDizzy Gillespie, who hired him for his sextet in 1945, then his larger ensembles.[1] Jackson quickly acquired experience working with the most important figures in jazz of the era, includingWoody Herman,Howard McGhee,Thelonious Monk, andCharlie Parker.[1]
In the Gillespie big band, Jackson fell into a pattern that led to the founding of the Modern Jazz Quartet: Gillespie maintained a former swing tradition of a small group within a big band, and his included Jackson, pianistJohn Lewis, bassistRay Brown, and drummerKenny Clarke (considered a pioneer of the ride-cymbal timekeeping that became the signature for bop and most jazz to follow) while the brass and reeds took breaks. When they decided to become a working group in their own right, around 1950, the foursome was known at first as the Milt Jackson Quartet, becoming theModern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) in 1952.[1] By that timePercy Heath had replaced Ray Brown.[3]
Known at first for featuring Jackson's blues-heavy improvisations almost exclusively, in time the group came to split the difference between these and Lewis's more ambitious musical ideas. Lewis had become the group's musical director by 1955, the year Clarke departed in favour ofConnie Kay, boiling the quartet down to a chamber jazz style, that highlighted the lyrical tension between Lewis's mannered, but roomy, compositions, and Jackson's unapologetic swing.
The MJQ had a long independent career of some two decades until disbanding in 1974, when Jackson split with Lewis.[1] The group reformed in 1981, however, and continued until 1993, after which Jackson toured alone, performing in various small combos, although agreeing to periodic MJQ reunions.[1] From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, Jackson recorded forNorman Granz'sPablo Records, includingJackson, Johnson, Brown & Company (1983), featuring Jackson withJ. J. Johnson on trombone, Ray Brown on bass, backed byTom Ranier on piano, guitaristJohn Collins, and drummerRoy McCurdy.[4]
In 1989, Jackson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from theBerklee College of Music.[5]
His composition "Bags' Groove" is a jazz standard. ("Bags" was a nickname given to him by a bass player in Detroit. "Bags" referred to the bags under his eyes.[6]) He was featured on theNPR radio programJazz Profiles. Some of his other signature compositions include "The Late, Late Blues" (for his album with Coltrane,Bags & Trane), "Bluesology" (an MJQ staple), and "Bags & Trane".[7]
Jackson died ofliver cancer in Manhattan, New York at the age of 76.[1][8][9] He was married to Sandra Whittington from 1959 until his death; the couple had a daughter.[8][10]
| Recording date | Title | Label | Year released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948-02 | Howard McGhee and Milt Jackson | Savoy | 1955 | withHoward McGhee |
| 1948-07-02, 1951-07-23, 1952-04-07 | Wizard of the Vibes also released asMilt Jackson | Blue Note | 1952 | [10"] withThelonious Monk[11] |
| 1955-05-20 | Milt Jackson Quartet | Prestige | 1955 | |
| 1955-10-28 | Opus de Jazz | Savoy | 1956 | |
| 1949-01-25, 1956-01-05 | Roll 'Em Bags | Savoy | 1956 | |
| 1949-02-23, 1954-11-01, 1955-02-07, 1956-01-05 | Meet Milt Jackson | Savoy | 1956 | |
| 1956-01-23 | The Jazz Skyline | Savoy | 1956 | |
| 1956-01-23 | Jackson's Ville | Savoy | 1956 | |
| 1956-01-17, -21, 1956-02-14 | Ballads & Blues | Atlantic | 1956 | |
| 1957-01-05, -07 | Plenty, Plenty Soul | Atlantic | 1957 | |
| 1957-05-21, 1957-06-10, -17 | Bags & Flutes | Atlantic | 1957 | |
| 1957-09-12, 1958-04-10 | Soul Brothers | Atlantic | 1958 | withRay Charles |
| 1958-04-10 | Soul Meeting | Atlantic | 1961 | with Ray Charles |
| 1958-09-12 | Bean Bags | Atlantic | 1959 | withColeman Hawkins |
| 1958-12-28, -29 | Bags' Opus | United Artists | 1959 | |
| 1959-01-15 | Bags & Trane | Atlantic | 1961 | withJohn Coltrane |
| 1959-05-01, 1959-09-09, -10 | The Ballad Artistry of Milt Jackson | Atlantic | 1959 | |
| 1960-02-23, -24, 1961-03-14 | Vibrations | Atlantic | 1964 | |
| 1961-12-14, -15 | Statements | Impulse! | 1962 | |
| 1961-12-18, -19 | Bags Meets Wes! | Riverside | 1962 | withWes Montgomery |
| 1962-06-19, -20, 1962-07-05 | Big Bags | Riverside | 1962 | |
| 1962-08-30, 1962-10-31, 1962-11-07 | Invitation | Riverside | 1963 | |
| 1963-03-18, 1963-08-05 | For Someone I Love | Riverside | 1966 | |
| 1963-05-16, -17, 1963-12-20 | Milt Jackson Quintet Live at the Village Gate | Riverside | 1967 | live |
| 1964-01-13, -14 | Much in Common | Verve | 1964 | withRay Brown |
| 1964-08-06, -07 | Jazz 'n' Samba | Impulse! | 1964 | |
| 1964-12-09, -14, -28 | In a New Setting | Limelight | 1965 | |
| 1965-01-04, -05 | Ray Brown / Milt Jackson | Verve | 1965 | with Ray Brown |
| 1965-08-12 | Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art | Limelight | 1965 | live |
| 1966-12-15 | Born Free | Limelight | 1967 | |
| 1968-05-09, 1968-06-03, -17 | Milt Jackson and the Hip String Quartet | Verve | 1968 | |
| 1969-08-01, -02 | That's the Way It Is | Impulse! | 1970 | live featuring Ray Brown |
| 1969-08-01, -02 | Just the Way It Had to Be | Impulse! | 1970 | live featuring Ray Brown |
| 1969-10-09, -10 | Memphis Jackson | Impulse! | 1970 | with the Ray Brown Big Band |
| 1972-12-12, -13 | Sunflower | CTI | 1973 | |
| 1972-12, 1973-12 | Goodbye | CTI | 1974 | withHubert Laws |
| 1974-01 | Olinga | CTI | 1974 | |
| 1975-07 | The Milt Jackson Big 4 | Pablo | 1975 | live |
| 1975-08 | The Big 3 | Pablo | 1975 | withJoe Pass and Ray Brown |
| 1976-03 | At The Kosei Nenkin | Pablo | 1977 | [2LP] live |
| 1976-03 | At the Kosei Nenkin vol. 2: Centerpiece | Pablo | 2002 | Posthumous release, mostly unissued tracks from the live session |
| 1976-04 | Feelings | Pablo | 1976 | |
| 1977-02 | Quadrant | Pablo | 1977 | with Joe Pass, Ray Brown, andMickey Roker |
| 1977-06 | Soul Fusion | Pablo | 1978 | with The Monty Alexander Trio |
| 1977-07 | Montreux '77 | Pablo | 1977 | with Ray Brown |
| 1979-11-11 | Loose Walk | Palcoscenico | 1980 | withSonny Stitt |
| 1980-01-21 | All Too Soon: The Duke Ellington Album | Pablo | 1980 | with Ray Brown, Mickey Roker & Joe Pass |
| 1980-04-14 | Night Mist | Pablo/OJC | 1981 | |
| 1981-11-30 | Ain't But a Few of Us Left | Pablo | 1982 | withOscar Peterson |
| 1982-04-23, -24 | A London Bridge | Pablo | 1988 | live |
| 1982-04-23, -24 | Mostly Duke | Pablo | 1991 | live |
| 1982-04-28 | In London: Memories of Thelonious Sphere Monk | Pablo | 1982 | live atRonnie Scott's Jazz Club, London |
| 1983-01-20 | Two of the Few | Pablo | 1983 | with Oscar Peterson |
| 1983-05-25, -26 | Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company | Pablo | 1983 | withJ. J. Johnson |
| 1983-11-30, 1983-12-01 | Soul Route | Pablo | 1984 | |
| 1988-03-28, -30 | Bebop | EastWest | 1988 | |
| 1993 | Reverence and Compassion | Qwest/WB | 1993 | |
| 1994? | The Prophet Speaks | Qwest/WB | 1994 | withJoshua Redman andJoe Williams |
| 1995 | Burnin' in the Woodhouse | Qwest/WB | 1995 | |
| 1997 | Sa Va Bella (For Lady Legends) | Qwest/WB | 1997 | |
| 1998-06-09, -10 | Explosive! | Qwest/WB | 1999 | with theClayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra |
| 1998-11-24 – -26 | The Very Tall Band | Telarc | 1999 | live at Blue Note with Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown |
Compilations
WithMiles Davis
WithDizzy Gillespie
WithOscar Peterson
With others
