Dedicated to Connie
This two-disc set was released in 1995 following the death of drummer Connie Kay, and it's a superb commemoration of the Modern Jazz Quartet at their creative peak, a 1960 concert in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from the same tour that produced the equally memorableEuropean Concert. By 1960, the group had gelled superbly, and much of their essential, original repertoire was in place, includingJohn Lewis's composition "Odds Against Tomorrow," the moody and profound theme from a film score, and the light, baroque-influenced pieces "Colombine" and "Pulcinella." What stands out is the acute consciousness of sound, in Kay's sparkling drumming and Percy Heath's warmly resonant bass, as well as Lewis's piano andMilt Jackson's vibraphone. There's a superb economy of means practiced by the entire band, with scarcely a superfluous note in the two hours of music heard here. The treatments of standards are as memorable as the originals. --Stuart Broomer