Patterns

This album has been spending a lot of time on the record player lately. Then I remembered that it’s been a while since I posted any jazz stuff so here’s an album by The Modern Jazz Quartet.

I think this 1960 record is the only release that the Modern Jazz Quartet had on United Artists Records. It’s a good one. The music was written for a movie called Odds Against Tomorrow starring Robert Ryan and Harry Belafonte. I’ve never seen the movie but it looks like it’s a good film.

One thing I like about the music is that almost every note is a short one. There are no vocals, horns, strings or guitars on the album, it’s only piano, vibes, bass and drums, even the cymbals are kept to a minimum. Pianist John Lewis wrote and arranged all six songs. “Skating In Central Park” is a classic.

United Artists went out of business before the dawn of the digital era so PATTERNS has never been on CD. In 1990, Blue Note Records released the record on a CD called ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW. Same songs, different name, different cover. It’s out of print too but you can find used copies cheap if you look around.