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3 LPs on 2 CDs.
Recorded at Avery Fisher Hall, New York on November 25, 1974.
Modern Jazz Quartet: John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Percy Heath (bass), Connie Kay (drums).

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I wish I*d been there on the night of November 25, 1974 as the MJQ took the stage at Avery Fisher Hall. It was a concert that was truly a climactic end to the Modern Jazz Quartet*s 22 years. (At the time it was not known that they would reassemble ten years later, albeit without as much musical interest.) John Lewis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Connie Kay played their hearts out, creating some of the finest renditions of their repertoire ever. Fortunately, every note was captured in crystal-clear sound and is on this 2-CD set. As for highlights…there are so many the whole set could just be called one continuous highlight of the quartet*s legacy. But there are some standouts: the opening, disarmingly-complex “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise,” the bluesy “Summertime,” the funky “True Blues,” the smokey “*Round Midnight” (featuring one of Milt*s best solos on record for which he gets a deserved spirited ovation), the very sweet and sentimental “Skating In Central Park,” the virtuostic “Blues in A minor,” the delicate “One Never Knows,” the energetic “Jasmine Tree,” and two encores that are the group*s signature pieces, “Django” and (of course!) “Bags* Groove” in what I promise you is the wildest rendition of this piece you will ever hear. All the selections have intricacy and interplay (each man knew when the other was going to breathe) beyond what can be described here. Suffice it to say these four men get textures, colors and tones that are quite unlike any other jazz group, and any other group of musicians in any genre. It*s hard to appreciate today how innovative their approach was in the 1950s and 60s because so much of what they*ve done has become so assimilated by pop, jazz, TV and movie music, and classical. (Of course, they did a lot of assimilating of their own, it was a symbiotic relationship.

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Disk 1
1. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise - 6:24
2. The Cylinder - 5:25
3. Summertime - 7:47
4. Really True Blues - 5:18
5. What*s New? - 7:06
6. Blues In A Minor - 7:43
7. Confirmation - 4:47
8. *Round Midnight - 7:36
9. Night In Tunisia - 5:21
10. Tears From The Children - 5:00
11. Blues In H (B) - 5:15
12. England*s Carol - 5:39

Disk 2
1. The Golden Striker - 5:26
2. One Never Knows - 7:19
3. Trav*lin* - 5:39
4. Skating in Central Park - 6:25
5. The Legendary Profile - 4:27
6. Adagio from the Guitar Concerto: Concerto de Aranjuez - 10:50
7. The Jasmine Tree - 4:06
8. In Memoriam - 16:31
9. Django (Encore) - 6:05
10. Bag*s Groove (Encore) - 6:43

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