NRahav@ixl.com
Wed, 13 Oct 1999 15:43:41 -0400
Sad, sad news. Milt Jackson is one of my favorites. I was lucky enough to
see him play in an MJQ reunion a few years back.
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Jazzman Milt Jackson dead in New York at 76
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jazz vibraphonist and master improviser Milt Jackson, a
40-year veteran of the Modern Jazz Quartet who played with Dizzy Gillespie,
Ray Charles and John Coltrane in a career spanning six decades, has died at
age 76.
Jackson, who lived in Teaneck, New Jersey, died Saturday of liver cancer, a
spokeswoman for Manhattan's St. Luke's-Roosevelt hospital said Monday.
Jackson, considered one of the leading improvisers in jazz, was born in
Detroit and began his professional music career after serving in the
military during World War II. He played guitar and piano during his
childhood.
While playing with the Four Sharps, a jazz quartet he set up, Jackson got
his first big break when Gillespie heard him play and offered him a chance
to join Gillespie's band, where he became the first bebop vibraphone jazz
artist.
``He came closer than anyone else on the instrument to making it sound like
a human voice,'' vibraphonist Stefon Harris told the New York Times. ``Milt
played the instrument in the most organic way possible, with a warm, rich
sound. He set a precedent that this instrument can speak beautiful things.''
Jackson recorded jazz classics with Gillespie, including ``A Night in
Tunisia,'' before joining pianist John Lewis, drummer Kenny Clarke and
bassist Ray Brown of Gillespie's rhythm section to form the Milt Jackson
Quartet.
Eventually Clark, Lewis and bassist Percy Heath joined Jackson to form the
Modern Jazz Quartet in 1952, which played together in various permutations,
on and off, through the mid-1990s. It became that rare jazz group that
achieved a fair amount of popularity outside of jazz circles.
The band broke up in 1974 when Lewis left, but reunited in the 1980s and had
its final performance in 1995.
Jackson also wrote several compositions, including ''Bluesology'' and
``Bags' Groove.''
In the 1990s Jackson worked with producer Quincy Jones, including this
year's ``Explosive!'' with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and he
collaborated with Oscar Peterson and Brown on ``The Very Tall Band,'' also
released this year.
Jackson is survived by his wife and daughter, both of New Jersey.
.·´¯`·.¸¸.N·a·t.¸
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