The Modern Jazz Quartet

In the early 1950s, the Modern Jazz Quartet took a lonely detour from the bebop revolution in which its members all participated. Over time they developed a refined hybrid that married a swing impulse with sophisticated melodic counterpoint rooted in Bach more than the blues, even if its feel and changes were based on the latter. The group was officially formed in 1952, emerging from an earlier grouping by pianist John Lewis and vibraphonist Milt Jackson with bandmates in the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band. By the following year, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Connie Kay signed on, remaining in the permanent lineup—minus some short-lived substitutions—until Kay died in 1994. After making its first records for Prestige, the group signed with Atlantic in 1956, refining its burgeoning contribution to third stream music—the label connected the group with composer Gunther Schuller, who pushed for a marriage of jazz and classical music under this term—while scoring film soundtracks and pursuing collaborations with reedists like Sonny Rollins and Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida. In 1968 they released the first of two albums for Apple Records, the label founded that year by the Beatles. The group announced it was disbanding in 1974, but its members never went more than 18 months without a performance until they finally retired after Kay’s death. Jackson died in 1999, Lewis in 2001, and Heath in 2005.