The Modern Jazz Sextet (Japanese Pressing)

Every once in a while a group of jazz musicians who didn’t form a working group would be thrown together in the studio for a session and through some miracle of chemistry, skill, and luck the resulting album would be an inspired classic. Blue Serge was one such; this is another. There aren’t many of them. The relaxed rapport between the MJQers (Lewis and Heath) and Best (guitar), Persip(drums), Gillespie (trumpet), and Stitt (alto) is remarkable, and there’s a delectable feeling of a mixing of swing and bop sensibilities. Did Gillespie ever play better than he does here? Not by much I’ll bet. This is also rated as one of Sonny Stitt’s best albums. The elegant, economical swing of Lewis suggests a bebop answer to Count Basie. Truly, everybody is great here, while nobody dominates—a genuine communal effort. The result is unpretentious, winning, and utterly brilliant. Furthermore, the new edition by Verve (part of their Verve Master Edition series) is nicely done on every level. Good sound, both new and original liner notes, original artwork, neat gatefold sleeve. If you can’t find it in the used bins, this new edition is well worth it.