Album of the Day

Emerging from the shadows of Dizzy Gillespie’s band at the end of the 1940s, the Modern Jazz Quartet would become one of the genre’s most revered groups, incorporating classical influences to take jazz out of nightclubs and into concert halls. Pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Connie Kay hit their stride on Atlantic Records, and 1975’s THE LAST CONCERT brought the band’s initial run (they would reunite the following decade) to a magnificent conclusion. Recorded at New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall, the double-album encompasses MJQ signature songs (“Bags' Groove,” “Django”), musical theater standards and classics by Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Elegant and immaculately performed, THE LAST CONCERT is an ideal first purchase for newcomers to this legendary foursome.