Milt Jackson The Early Years 1945-52 (2-CD)

Milt Jackson is best-known as the long-time vibraphone player with The Modern Jazz Quartet, one of the most important and longest-established ensembles in post-war jazz. However, in the seven years prior to that group's first formal recordings under that name in 1952, Milt Jackson recorded with some of the most significant and influential names in the genre, developing the musical concepts, techniques and partnerships which helped from the basis of the MJQ's highly distinctive approach to jazz. During the late '40s and first years of the '50s he recorded with groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Ray Brown, Howard McGhee, Sonny Stitt, Fats Navarro, Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke, as well as making his first recordings leading his own different line-ups - his two sets of recordings with Monk's Quartet and Quintet in 1948 and 1951 are especially notable. In those groups, he played with a host of bop era luminaries, including Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Don Byas, J.J. Johnson, Art Blakey, Max Roach and many others, including his first session with future MJQ colleague John Lewis. This great-value 48-track 2-CD set selects studio recordings and 'live' performances from that hugely significant formative period, by the end of which the initial NJQ line-up had crystallized as the Milt Jackson Quartet. It's a thoroughly entertaining and illuminating insight into how Jackson's already finely-honed style interacted with an eclectic range of the genre's finest talents.

Track Listing

Disc 1:
Dizzy Atmosphere
Round Midnight
52nd Street Theme
A Night In Tunisia
Boppin' The Blues
Bean And The Boys
You Go To My Head
Cocktails For Two
Coolie-rini
Surrender
Bobbin' With Robin
Baggy Eyes
Slits
Red Shoes
Star Dust
Evidence
Misterioso
Epistrophy
I Mean You
The Skunk
Bruz
Hearing Bells
Junior
Bubu

Disc 2:
Bluesology
Tin Tin Deo
The Champ Pt. 1
Willow Weep For Me
Criss Cross
Straight No Chaser
Milt Meets Sid
D & E
Yesterdays
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
Autumn Breeze
Moving Nicely
Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Love Me Pretty Baby
Heart And Soul
True Blues
Lillie
Tahiti
What's New
Bag's Groove
How High The Moon