Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet

Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet is an album by American jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson, recorded on July 2, 1948, July 23, 1951 and April 7, 1952 and released on Blue Note in 1956. The latter two sessions were originally released on ten-inch LP as Wizard of the Vibes (1952).

Background

Recording

The sessions were the work of The Thelonious Monk Quintet (the July 2, 1948 and July 23, 1951 sessions) and The Modern Jazz Quartet plus Lou Donaldson (a 1952 session). The album has been recompiled and expanded three additional times, with various tracks from these sessions added and deleted.

The tracks from the Modern Jazz Quartet plus Lou Donaldson consisted of John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass, Kenny Clarke on drums, Milt Jackson on vibraphone, and Lou Donaldson on alto saxophone. The tracks with the Thelonious Monk Quintet were Thelonious Monk on piano, John Simmons on bass, Shadow Wilson on drums, and Milt Jackson on vibraphone—with Kenny "Pancho" Hagood singing on the tracks "All the Things You Are" and "I Should Care".

Release history

The original 1952 10" LP was expanded to a 12" LP in 1956, and retitled Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet with a cover designed by Reid Miles, his first for the label. In 1989, the cover and title of the 1956 version were used for a CD featuring the complete 1948 and 1952 sessions, but the 1951 Monk Session was moved to Monk's Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2. The 2001 album Milt Jackson: Wizard of the Vibes used the cover art and title of the original 1952 album, but contained a re-ordered and remastered version of the contents of the 1989 CD.

In each formulation, the album contained Blue Note Thelonious Monk-led performances unavailable on the parallel editions of Genius of Modern Music.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Penguin Guide to Jazz

The Penguin Guide to Jazz described the tracks with Monk as "classics, rising to their greatest height with the riveting version of 'I Mean You'."

The AllMusic reviewer wrote that "Jackson's inventive playing throughout both dates makes this an important CD in his considerable discography, so it should be a part of any bop fan's collection."

Track listings

Original release (Blue Note BLP 1509, 12", 1956)

Side 1
No.	Title	Music	Date recorded
1.	"Lillie"		April 7, 1952
2.	"Tahiti"		April 7, 1952
3.	"What's New?"		April 7, 1952
4.	"Bags' Groove"		April 7, 1952
5.	"On the Scene"	Lou Donaldson	April 7, 1952
6.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronnell	July 23, 1951

Side 2
No.	Title	Date recorded
1.	"Criss-Cross"	July 23, 1951
2.	"Eronel"	July 23, 1951
3.	"Misterioso" (alternate master)	July 2, 1948
4.	"Evidence"	July 2, 1948
5.	"Lillie" (alternate master)	April 7, 1952
6.	"Four in One" (alternate master)	July 23, 1951

CD reissues

All music is composed by Milt Jackson, except as noted.

1989 reissue
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Date recorded	Length
1.	"Tahiti"			April 7, 1952	3:26
2.	"Lillie"			April 7, 1952	3:13
3.	"Lillie" (alternate take)			April 7, 1952	3:15
4.	"Bags' Groove"			April 7, 1952	3:03
5.	"What's New?"	Johnny Burke	Bob Haggart	April 7, 1952	3:08
6.	"What's New?" (alternate take)	Burke	Haggart	April 7, 1952	3:10
7.	"Don't Get Around Much Anymore"		Duke Ellington	April 7, 1952	2:58
8.	"Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (alternate take)		Ellington	April 7, 1952	2:56
9.	"On the Scene"		Lou Donaldson	April 7, 1952	2:40
10.	"Evidence"		Thelonious Monk	July 2, 1948	2:31
11.	"Misterioso"		Monk	July 2, 1948	3:11
12.	"Misterioso" (alternate take)		Monk	July 2, 1948	2:43
13.	"Epistrophy"		Kenny Clarke Monk	July 2, 1948	3:05
14.	"I Mean You"		Monk	July 2, 1948	2:44
15.	"All the Things You Are"	Roger Hammerstein II	Jerome Kern	July 2, 1948	2:57
16.	"I Should Care" (alternate take)	Sammy Cahn	Axel Stordahl Paul Weston	July 2, 1948	3:00
17.	"I Should Care"	Cahn	Stordahl Weston	July 2, 1948	2:59

The 2001 RVG edition restores the ten-inch cover and title, and appends the alternate takes to their respective sessions.

Milt Jackson: Wizard of the Vibes (Blue Note LP 5011, 10", 1952)

All music is composed by Milt Jackson, except as noted.

Side 1
No.	Title	Music	Date recorded
1.	"Tahiti"		April 7, 1952
2.	"Lillie"		April 7, 1952
3.	"Criss-Cross"	Thelonious Monk	July 23, 1951
4.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronnell	July 23, 1951

Side 2
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Date recorded
1.	"What's New?"	Johnny Burke	Bob Haggart	April 7, 1952
2.	"Bags' Groove"			April 7, 1952
3.	"On the Scene"		Lou Donaldson	April 7, 1952
4.	"Eronel"		Monk Idrees Sulieman Sadik Hakim	July 23, 1951

Personnel

Musicians

July 2, 1948

Milt Jackson – vibraphone
Thelonious Monk – piano
John Simmons – bass
Shadow Wilson – drummer
Kenny "Pancho" Hagood – vocals ("All the Things You Are", "I Should Care")

July 23, 1951

Thelonious Monk – piano
Sahib Shihab – alto saxophone
Milt Jackson – vibraphone
Al McKibbon – bass
Art Blakey – drums

April 7, 1952

Milt Jackson – vibraphone
Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone (except "Lillie", "What's New?")
John Lewis – piano
Percy Heath – bass
Kenny Clarke – drummer

Technical personnel

Original

Alfred Lion – producer
Harry Smith (1948), Doug Hawkins (1952) – recording engineer
Rudy Van Gelder (1956) – remastering
Reid Miles – design
Francis Wolff – photography
Leonard Feather – liner notes

Reissue

Michael Cuscuna – producer
Ron McMaster – digital transfers

References

^ Dryden, Ken. "Wizard of the Vibes - Milt Jackson | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 754. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

v t e Milt Jackson
Studio albums	Howard McGhee and Milt Jackson (1948) Roll 'Em Bags (1949) Meet Milt Jackson (1949) Wizard of the Vibes (1952) Milt Jackson Quartet (1955) Opus de Jazz (1956) Ballads & Blues (1957) The Jazz Skyline (1956) Plenty, Plenty Soul (1957) Bags & Flutes (1957) Soul Brothers (1958) Bean Bags (1959) Bags' Opus (1959) Bags & Trane (1960) The Ballad Artistry of Milt Jackson (1960) Soul Meeting (1961) Vibrations (1961) Very Tall (1961) Statements (1961) Bags Meets Wes! (1961) Big Bags (1962) Invitation (1962) For Someone I Love (1962) Much in Common (1964) Jazz 'n' Samba (1964) In a New Setting (1964) Ray Brown / Milt Jackson (1965) Born Free (1966) Milt Jackson and the Hip String Quartet (1968) Memphis Jackson (1969) Reunion Blues (1971) Sunflower (1972) Goodbye (1973) Olinga (1974) The Big 3 (1975) Quadrant (1977) Ain't But a Few of Us Left (1981) Two of the Few (1983) Soul Route (1983)
Live albums	Milt Jackson Quintet Live at the Village Gate (1963) Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art (1965) That's the Way It Is (1969) Just the Way It Had to Be (1969) The Milt Jackson Big 4 (1975)
With others	Quintet/Sextet (1956) Bags' Groove (1957) Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (1959) Bags & Trane (1961)
Related articles	Modern Jazz Quartet

v t e Thelonious Monk
Discography Compositions
As leader	Genius of Modern Music: Volume 1 Wizard of the Vibes Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2 Thelonious Monk Trio Monk Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins Piano Solo Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington The Unique Thelonious Monk Brilliant Corners Thelonious Himself Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk Monk's Music Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane Mulligan Meets Monk Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings Thelonious in Action Misterioso The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall 5 by Monk by 5 Thelonious Alone in San Francisco Thelonious Monk at the Blackhawk Monk in France Thelonious Monk in Italy Monk's Dream Criss-Cross Monk in Tokyo Miles & Monk at Newport Big Band and Quartet in Concert It's Monk's Time Monk Solo Monk Live at the It Club Live at the Jazz Workshop Misterioso (Recorded on Tour) Straight, No Chaser Thelonious Monk Nonet Live in Paris 1967 Underground Monk's Blues
With others	Midnight at Minton's Bird and Diz Bags' Groove Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants Moving Out Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2 Nica's Tempo In Orbit
Compositions	"In Walked Bud" "'Round Midnight"
Related articles	Blue Note Sessions Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser Rewind & Play

v t e Modern Jazz Quartet
Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath, Connie Kay Kenny Clarke, Mickey Roker, Albert Heath Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, except where indicated.
Group albums	Wizard of the Vibes (as Milt Jackson Quartet, 1952) 1953: An Exceptional Encounter (and Ben Webster, 1953) Django (1953–55) Concorde (1955) Fontessa (1956) The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn (1956) The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays No Sun in Venice (1957) The Modern Jazz Quartet (1957) The Modern Jazz Quartet and the Oscar Peterson Trio at the Opera House (1957) The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn Volume 2 (with Sonny Rollins, 1958) Pyramid (1959–60) Music from Odds Against Tomorrow/Patterns (1959) European Concert (1960) Dedicated to Connie (1960 ) The Comedy (1960–62) The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra (1960) Lonely Woman (1962) The Sheriff (1963) Collaboration (and Laurindo Almeida, 1964) The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1964–65) Jazz Dialogue (1965) Blues at Carnegie Hall (1966) Place Vendôme (and The Swingle Singers, 1966) Live at the Lighthouse (1967) Under the Jasmin Tree (1967) Space (1969) Plastic Dreams (1971) The Legendary Profile (1972) In Memoriam (1973) Blues on Bach (1973) The Complete Last Concert (1974 ) Reunion at Budokan 1981 (1981) Together Again: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival '82 (1982) Echoes (1984) Topsy: This One's for Basie (1985) Three Windows (1987) For Ellington (1988) MJQ & Friends: A 40th Anniversary Celebration (1992–1993)

Modern Jazz Quartet

Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath, Connie Kay

Kenny Clarke, Mickey Roker, Albert Heath

Years given are for the recording(s), not first release,
except where indicated.

Group
albums

Wizard of the Vibes (as Milt Jackson Quartet, 1952)
1953: An Exceptional Encounter (and Ben Webster, 1953)
Django (1953–55)
Concorde (1955)
Fontessa (1956)
The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn (1956)
The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays No Sun in Venice (1957)
The Modern Jazz Quartet (1957)
The Modern Jazz Quartet and the Oscar Peterson Trio at the Opera House (1957)
The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn Volume 2 (with Sonny Rollins, 1958)
Pyramid (1959–60)
Music from Odds Against Tomorrow/Patterns (1959)
European Concert (1960)
Dedicated to Connie (1960 )
The Comedy (1960–62)
The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra (1960)
Lonely Woman (1962)
The Sheriff (1963)
Collaboration (and Laurindo Almeida, 1964)
The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1964–65)
Jazz Dialogue (1965)
Blues at Carnegie Hall (1966)
Place Vendôme (and The Swingle Singers, 1966)
Live at the Lighthouse (1967)
Under the Jasmin Tree (1967)
Space (1969)
Plastic Dreams (1971)
The Legendary Profile (1972)
In Memoriam (1973)
Blues on Bach (1973)
The Complete Last Concert (1974 )
Reunion at Budokan 1981 (1981)
Together Again: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival '82 (1982)
Echoes (1984)
Topsy: This One's for Basie (1985)
Three Windows (1987)
For Ellington (1988)
MJQ & Friends: A 40th Anniversary Celebration (1992–1993)

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