Bassist about town and writer par excellence Spike Perkins is adding his unique voice to TVD all week long. Here he reflects on another of his favorite vinyl albums-Milt Jackson at the Kosei Nenkin.
Vibraphonist Milt Jackson was one of the most creative improvisers in modern jazz, on any instrument. A founding member of the long-lived Modern Jazz Quartet, he also performed and recorded with many other notable jazz artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Ray b. The MJQ took a hiatus in 1974, and Jackson had the opportunity perform and record with any all-star groups for Norman Granz’s Pablo label throughout the 1970s.
Granz is a bit of a jazz legend in himself. An impresario, artist manager and record label founder, Granz established the Jazz At The Philharmonic series of concerts. Artists he discovered or managed at one time include Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Count Basie, and Ben Webster. He founded Clef and Norgran Records, which he consolidated into Verve in 1956.
Granz knew authentic talent when he heard it, and was not trend-driven like most of the jazz press at the time. He didn’t care about labels like “be-bopper,” or “moldy fig,” “East Coast,” or “West Coast.” For recording sessions he often paired older, swing-era players like Ben Webster with young, bop-savy musicians like Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown, with wonderful results.
After selling Verve to MGM in 1960, Granz eventually returned to the record business, founding Pablo in 1973. Once again, the music press was touting something new and trendy. Miles Davis’s electronic experiments had given rise to fusion, which attracted hordes of young fans who had grown up on rock. Many veterans of the swing and bop eras were still working and playing at the height of their powers, but they weren’t getting much attention. These were the artists that Pablo sought to record, often in all-star, live sessions.
Recorded March 22 and 23, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan, this live concert recording featured Jackson with Cedar Walton, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Teddy Edwards, tenor sax; and Billy Higgins, drums. As it is a two-record set with only two or three cuts per side, the musicians are given ample opportunity to stretch out, and oh boy, do they! The repertoire includes modern jazz classics like “All Blues,” “St. Thomas,” and “Killer Joe,” standards like “Bye Bye Blackbird,” and “Get Happy,” and a couple of originals from the group, including one of Cedar Walton’s most interesting compositions, “Bolivia.”
The video below features Jackson with two of the other players.
Spike Perkins has resided in New Orleans since 1982, where he works as a musician and freelance writer. His work has appeared in the Times-Picayune, and other publications, and he has performed with many New Orleans-based artists. He wrote the cult hit “Pitbull” with Coco Robicheaux, and appears on Robicheaux’s “Spiritland” CD.
