When Atlantic released the group's label debut in 1956, the Modern Jazz Quartet had already been in existence for quite a while. As annotator Doug Ramsey relates, the idea for the group was born of necessity. Jackson and Lewis were in Dizzy Gillespie's short-lived bebop big band during the late 1940s, which also included bassist Ray Brown and drummer Kenny Clark in the rhythm section. The charts were so demanding that short breaks for the brass were necessary, during which the stellar rhythm section would get a chance to stretch out. As this was a regular occurrence, Lewis began to arrange for the quartet, and an institution was born. Brown was the first to leave, and Clark emigrated to Paris two years later, after the 1955 sessions that produced the landmark album Django for Prestige but before the first date for Atlantic. A1 La Ronde 3:08 A2 All The Things You Are 3:15 A3 Vendome 3:12 A4 Rose Of The Rio Grande 2:14 A5 Delaunay's Dilemma 3:57 A6 The Queen's Fancy 3:12 A7 Autumn In New York 3:38 A8 But Not For Me 3:42 B1 In A Sentimental Mood 3:22 B2 The Stopper 3:00 B3 Almost Like Being In Love 3:27 B4 No Moe 3:32 B5 Django 7:01 B6 Milano 4:21
