Milt Jackson

Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with hard bop and post-bop players.

A very expressive player, Jackson differentiated himself from other vibraphonists in his attention to variations on harmonics and rhythm. He was particularly fond of the twelve-bar blues at slow tempos. On occasion, Jackson also sang and played piano.

Biography

Jackson was born on January 1, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan, United States,

While attending Miller High School, he played drums, timpani and violin, and also sang in the choir. At 16, he sang professionally in a local touring gospel quartet called the Evangelist Singers. He took up the vibraphone at 16 after hearing Lionel Hampton play the instrument in Benny Goodman's band. Jackson was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie, who hired him for his sextet in 1945, then his larger ensembles.

Known at first for featuring Jackson's blues-heavy improvisations almost exclusively, in time the group came to split the difference between these and Lewis's more ambitious musical ideas. Lewis had become the group's musical director by 1955, the year Clarke departed in favour of Connie Kay, boiling the quartet down to a chamber jazz style, that highlighted the lyrical tension between Lewis's mannered, but roomy, compositions, and Jackson's unapologetic swing.

The MJQ had a long independent career of some two decades until disbanding in 1974, when Jackson split with Lewis.

In 1989, Jackson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee College of Music.

His composition "Bags' Groove" is a jazz standard. ("Bags" was a nickname given to him by a bass player in Detroit. "Bags" referred to the bags under his eyes. ) He was featured on the NPR radio program Jazz Profiles. Some of his other signature compositions include "The Late, Late Blues" (for his album with Coltrane, Bags & Trane), "Bluesology" (an MJQ staple), and "Bags & Trane".

Jackson died of liver cancer in Manhattan, New York at the age of 76. He was married to Sandra Whittington from 1959 until his death; the couple had a daughter.

Discography

As leader/co-leader Jackson at Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society, Half Moon Bay, California, 1980s. Recording date Title Label Year released Notes 1948-02 Howard McGhee and Milt Jackson Savoy 1955 with Howard McGhee 1948-07-02, 1951-07-23, 1952-04-07 Wizard of the Vibes also released as Milt Jackson Blue Note 1952 [10"] with Thelonious Monk 1955-05-20 Milt Jackson Quartet Prestige 1955 1955-10-28 Opus de Jazz Savoy 1956 1949-01-25, 1956-01-05 Roll 'Em Bags Savoy 1956 1949-02-23, 1954-11-01, 1955-02-07, 1956-01-05 Meet Milt Jackson Savoy 1956 1956-01-23 The Jazz Skyline Savoy 1956 1956-01-23 Jackson's Ville Savoy 1956 1956-01-17, -21, 1956-02-14 Ballads & Blues Atlantic 1956 1957-01-05, -07 Plenty, Plenty Soul Atlantic 1957 1957-05-21, 1957-06-10, -17 Bags & Flutes Atlantic 1957 1957-09-12, 1958-04-10 Soul Brothers Atlantic 1958 with Ray Charles 1958-04-10 Soul Meeting Atlantic 1961 with Ray Charles 1958-09-12 Bean Bags Atlantic 1959 with Coleman Hawkins 1958-12-28, -29 Bags' Opus United Artists 1959 1959-01-15 Bags & Trane Atlantic 1961 with John Coltrane 1959-05-01, 1959-09-09, -10 The Ballad Artistry of Milt Jackson Atlantic 1959 1960-02-23, -24, 1961-03-14 Vibrations Atlantic 1964 1961-12-14, -15 Statements Impulse! 1962 1961-12-18, -19 Bags Meets Wes! Riverside 1962 with Wes Montgomery 1962-06-19, -20, 1962-07-05 Big Bags Riverside 1962 1962-08-30, 1962-10-31, 1962-11-07 Invitation Riverside 1963 1963-03-18, 1963-08-05 For Someone I Love Riverside 1966 1963-05-16, -17, 1963-12-20 Milt Jackson Quintet Live at the Village Gate Riverside 1967 live 1964-01-13, -14 Much in Common Verve 1964 with Ray Brown 1964-08-06, -07 Jazz 'n' Samba Impulse! 1964 1964-12-09, -14, -28 In a New Setting Limelight 1965 1965-01-04, -05 Ray Brown / Milt Jackson Verve 1965 with Ray Brown 1965-08-12 Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art Limelight 1965 live 1966-12-15 Born Free Limelight 1967 1968-05-09, 1968-06-03, -17 Milt Jackson and the Hip String Quartet Verve 1968 1969-08-01, -02 That's the Way It Is Impulse! 1970 live featuring Ray Brown 1969-08-01, -02 Just the Way It Had to Be Impulse! 1970 live featuring Ray Brown 1969-10-09, -10 Memphis Jackson Impulse! 1970 with the Ray Brown Big Band 1972-12-12, -13 Sunflower CTI 1973 1972-12, 1973-12 Goodbye CTI 1974 with Hubert Laws 1974-01 Olinga CTI 1974 1975-07 The Milt Jackson Big 4 Pablo 1975 live 1975-08 The Big 3 Pablo 1975 with Joe Pass and Ray Brown 1976-03 At The Kosei Nenkin Pablo 1977 [2LP] live 1976-03 At the Kosei Nenkin vol. 2: Centerpiece Pablo 2002 Posthumous release, mostly unissued tracks from the live session 1976-04 Feelings Pablo 1976 1977-02 Quadrant Pablo 1977 with Joe Pass, Ray Brown, and Mickey Roker 1977-06 Soul Fusion Pablo 1978 with The Monty Alexander Trio 1977-07 Montreux '77 Pablo 1977 with Ray Brown 1978-01-18 Milt Jackson & Count Basie & the Big Band, Vol. 1 Pablo 1978 with Count Basie 1979-01 Milt Jackson & Count Basie & the Big Band, Vol. 2 Pablo 1979 with Count Basie 1979-11-11 Loose Walk Palcoscenico 1980 with Sonny Stitt 1980-01-21 All Too Soon: The Duke Ellington Album Pablo 1980 with Ray Brown, Mickey Roker & Joe Pass 1980-04-14 Night Mist Pablo/OJC 1981 1981-11-30 Ain't But a Few of Us Left Pablo 1982 with Oscar Peterson 1982-04-23, -24 A London Bridge Pablo 1988 live 1982-04-23, -24 Mostly Duke Pablo 1991 live 1982-04-28 In London: Memories of Thelonious Sphere Monk Pablo 1982 live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London 1983-01-20 Two of the Few Pablo 1983 with Oscar Peterson 1983-05-25, -26 Jackson, Johnson, Brown & Company Pablo 1983 with J. J. Johnson 1983-11-30, 1983-12-01 Soul Route Pablo 1984 1988-03-28, -30 Bebop EastWest 1988 1993 Reverence and Compassion Qwest/WB 1993 1994? The Prophet Speaks Qwest/WB 1994 with Joshua Redman and Joe Williams 1995 Burnin' in the Woodhouse Qwest/WB 1995 1997 Sa Va Bella (For Lady Legends) Qwest/WB 1997 1998-06-09, -10 Explosive! Qwest/WB 1999 with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra 1998-11-24 – -26 The Very Tall Band Telarc 1999 live at Blue Note with Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown

Compilations I/We Had a Ball (Limelight, 1965) – rec. 1964 All Star Bags (Blue Note, 1976)[2LP] – rec. 1952-1957 Milt Jackson (Quintessence Jazz Series) (Pickwick, 1979) The Best of Milt Jackson (Pablo, 1980)

As leader of the Modern Jazz Quartet

Vendome (Prestige, 1952) Modern Jazz Quartet, II (Prestige, 1955) Concorde (Prestige, 1955) Fontessa (Atlantic, 1956) The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn (Atlantic, 1956) The Modern Jazz Quartet (Atlantic, 1957) The Modern Jazz Quartet and the Oscar Peterson Trio at the Opera House (Verve, 1957) The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays No Sun in Venice (Atlantic, 1958) – film score rec. 1957 The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn Volume 2 (Atlantic, 1958) Music from Odds Against Tomorrow (United Artists, 1959) – soundtrack Third Stream Music (Atlantic, 1960) – rec. 1959–1960, including Sketch for Double String Quartet (1959) Pyramid (Atlantic, 1960) The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra (Atlantic, 1960) European Concert (Atlantic, 1960) – live The Comedy (Atlantic, 1962) – recorded in 1960-1962 Lonely Woman (Atlantic, 1962) A Quartet is a Quartet is a Quartet (Atlantic, 1963) Collaboration with Laurindo Almeida (Atlantic, 1964) The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (Atlantic, 1965) – rec. 1964–1965 Jazz Dialogue with the All-Star Jazz Band (Atlantic, 1965) Concert in Japan '66 (Atlantic [Japan], 1966) Blues at Carnegie Hall (Atlantic, 1966) Place Vendôme with The Swingle Singers (Philips, 1966) Under the Jasmin Tree (Apple, 1968) – rec. 1967 Space (Apple, 1969) Plastic Dreams (Atlantic, 1971) The Legendary Profile (Atlantic, 1972) In Memoriam (Little David, 1973) Blues on Bach (Atlantic, 1974) – rec. 1973 The Last Concert (Atlantic, 1974) The Only Recorded Performance of Paul Desmond With The Modern Jazz Quartet with Paul Desmond (Finesse/Columbia, 1981) – rec. 1971 Reunion at Budokan 1981 (Pablo, 1981) Together Again: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival '82 (Pablo, 1982) Echoes (Pablo, 1984) Topsy: This One's for Basie (Pablo, 1985) Three Windows (Atlantic, 1987) For Ellington (East West, 1988) MJQ & Friends: A 40th Anniversary Celebration (Atlantic, 1994) – rec. 1992–1993 Dedicated to Connie (Atlantic, 1995) – live rec. 1960 Lost Tapes: Germany 1956–1958 (Jazzhaus, 2013) – live rec: 1956–1958

As a member CTI All-Stars, CTI Summer Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl (CTI, 1991)[2CD] – rec. 1972

As sideman

With Miles Davis Quintet / Sextet (Prestige, 1956) – rec. 1955 Bags' Groove (Prestige, 1957) – rec. 1954 Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (Prestige, 1959) – rec. 1954–1956

With Dizzy Gillespie The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Bluebird, 1995) – rec. 1937–1949 Dee Gee Days: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy, 1976) – rec. 1951–1952 The Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 (Pablo, 1975) Dizzy Gillespie Jam (Pablo, 1977) Musician, Composer, Raconteur (Pablo, 1982) – rec. 1981

With Oscar Peterson Very Tall (Verve, 1962) – rec. 1961 Reunion Blues (MPS, 1972) – rec. 1971 The Oscar Peterson Big 6 at Montreux (Pablo, 1975)

With others Cannonball Adderley, Things Are Getting Better (Riverside, 1959) – rec. 1958 Count Basie, Jam Session at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1975 (Pablo, 1975) Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dear Ella (Verve, 1997) Wini Brown, Miss Brown For You (Savoy Jazz, 1986) – rec. 1947–1949 Benny Carter, The King (Pablo, 1976) Ray Charles, Just Between Us (Columbia, 1988) Kenny Clarke, Telefunken Blues (Savoy, 1955) – rec. 1954–1955 Roy Eldridge, What It's All About (Pablo, 1976) Steve Miller, Born 2 B Blue (Capitol, 1988) Hank Mobley, Hank Mobley and His All Stars (Blue Note, 1957) Don Sebesky, Giant Box (CTI, 1973) The Temptations, For Lovers Only (Motown, 1995) Big Joe Turner, Nobody In Mind (Pablo, 1976) Stanley Turrentine, Cherry (CTI, 1972) Dinah Washington, Mellow Mama (Delmark, 1992) – rec. 1945