Paul Desmond and the Modern Jazz Quartet appeared together on stage only once, on the evening of Christmas Day in 1971. What's remarkable is that the concert was taped and the second half released on vinyl in 1981. The combined sound together was heavenly.
Michael O'Daniel turned me on to the album, since I wasn't aware of it previously. He also sent along more information about the concert, since he was the one who presented it. At the end of this post, you'll find the album in full, without ad interruptions.
Here are Michael's recollections:
Hi Marc. In 1971, my wife and I were living in New York, pretty much on a shoestring, trying to keep my fledgling artist management company afloat after a three-year financial roller coaster. The Modern Jazz Quartet was one of my first clients.
At the time, we lived in the much lamented Great Northern Hotel at 111 West 57th St., just off 6th Avenue. Its back entrance was on 56th St. Erroll Garner lived at the Great Northern. Duke Ellington periodically recorded there at Fine Recording on the first floor. The hotel was both a domicile and a revolving door for musicians, due to its proximity to Carnegie Hall and Nola Studios. The 13-story Great Northern was demolished in the late 1980s to make way for the Parker Meridien Hotel.
Paul Desmond lived right around the corner from us, at 77 West 55th St., on the corner of 6th Avenue. I knew him personally from his Dave Brubeck Quartet days, and we were still in touch periodically. At the time, Paul had not made a live appearance since the Brubeck Quartet disbanded in late 1967. But he had recorded three albums under his own name. Actually four, one of which was issued after he had passed away in 1977.
The MJQ had already begun performing annual Christmas concerts in New York, and I produced their 1970 performance with the Canadian Brass Quintet at Carnegie Hall. Thinking about what to do for an encore, it struck me that the combination of Desmond's ethereal alto sax, John Lewis's understated accompaniment on piano, Milt Jackson's vibes, Percy Heath's bass, Connie Kay's drums, and the overall chamber jazz feel of the MJQ would produce magic. All of these guys were at the top of their game.
So in the fall of '71, I called Paul and asked whether he would consider performing live with the MJQ. He immediately said yes. Next, I called John Lewis and asked, "You're going to do a Christmas concert again this year, right?" He said, "Yes, but we haven't finalized anything yet." I said, "What would you think about Paul Desmond as a special guest?" John said "That would be perfect."
So I booked Town Hall for Christmas night. We ran a few small-space ads in The New York Times, put up some flyers and posters including one at Paul's favorite hangout, Elaine's, on the upper East Side. The concert was completely sold out in advance.
The MJQ opened with a set of their own. Paul joined them after the intermission. My personal favorite from their collaboration is "La Paloma Azul" ("The Blue Dove"). Later when I started teaching music, I used that tune as a textbook example of how much can be said, musically, in just two or three choruses.
Listening to the way they took the tune out still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The audience obviously felt likewise as they erupted in applause before the song ended.
I was not aware until several years later that the concert had been taped by John Lewis, who obviously knew it would be special. John and the recording engineer took the feed from the Town Hall sound system.
The recording was originally released on vinyl and then picked up by Bob Thiele's Red Baron label for release on CD. Red Baron went out of business in 1996, soon after Bob's death that year. Since then, there have been several digital releases. I wish someone would pick up the master and keep it active in their catalogue.
Given the state of my finances then, I should not have presented that concert. But there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity. Fortunately, I was able to book the venue without putting up a deposit, and I got the ads placed and the printing done on credit. It was an unforgettable evening and remains one of my top-5 experiences as a presenter—made even more so by the chocolate-chip cookies my wife, Sylvia, baked to feed the musicians after the show.
As a pre-holiday gift to all JazzWax readers, here's the full album of the gorgeous Desmond/MJQ collaboration Michael presented...
A special thanks to Peter Levin for the added information on Fine Recording.
