Search - Milt Jackson :: To Bags With Love: A Tribute to Milt Jackson

For six decades, Milt Jackson (1923-1999) reigned as the greatest vibraphonist in jazz. With his trademark vocal-like vibrato, he translated the bebop innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to the instrument. He cofounded the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1952 and recorded often as a leader and a sideman. To Bags chronicles his work on the Pablo, Prestige, and Riverside labels from 1954 to 1983. Away from the MJQ, Jackson could fit in any setting, as he does here, from his own big-band version of Tadd Dameron's immortal ballad "If You Could See Me Now" and Count Basie's "Corner Pocket" to his dynamic duo with piano giant Oscar Peterson on a tribute to Basie. Jackson's work with trumpet king Roy Eldridge on the Latin-tinged "Recado Bossa Nova" and on "Easy Money" with the timeless saxophonist Benny Carter, show the respect swing veterans had for him. Jackson's greatest hit, "Bag's Groove," performed by Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke, and Percy Heath, rounds out this well-selected sonic snapshot of a great musician. --Eugene Holley, Jr.