Someone famously called jazz the sound of surprise, but all too often, what is on offer is the dull hum of routine. Or something like that. This historic reissue is, however, anything but routine.

From the opening tag of the first tune on this 1955 recording, one relaxes on the axis of the steel vibes of Milt Jackson, joined by his Modern Jazz Quartet mates Percy Heath and Connie Kay, along ...

Pianist John Lewis was a founding member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, whose original members also included vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Kenny Clarke. Lewis was musical ...

A lot of jazz people love The Modern Jazz Quartet, but maybe not all the time. Some of them just wait for the parts when vibraphonist Milt Jackson gets to swinging — that was also Jackson's favorite ...

Milt Jackson in New York, with bassist Ray Brown, left, circa 1947. Credit: William P. Gottlieb Collection at the Library of Congress You know that classic scene from the movie, “Big,” when the ...