Nat Steele - Portrait of the Modern Jazz Quartet

The Guardian 80

(Trio)

If ever a jazz quartet could be called unique it was the MJQ, with their unlikely combination of classical delicacy and bebop bravura. To experience it in person was to be entranced by the poise with which they kept the two disparate elements in balance. The MJQ ended in 1994 and no one else seemed quite able to strike the same balance. Now, however, I think vibraphonist Nat Steele has managed it, along with pianist Gabriel Latchin, bassist Dario Di Lecce and drummer Steve Brown. The classic arrangements retain the authentic lightness of touch, while the freshly improvised solos have all the vital intensity of the original.