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"... the synthesis of bebop, cool, and what would come to be called 'Third Stream' ... no other jazz groups at the time were producing a product as refined and well crafted ... Perhaps this is exactly what we are to take away from listening to this superb set of music." - All About Jazz "The MJQ plays in a restrained, conservative bop style ... it has a finely honed ensemble sound, owing in part to the long-standing association of the four excellent players ..." - The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz The Modern Jazz Quartet was a major jazz institution, a band that, counting a seven-year 'vacation,' lasted 43 years. During a time when jazz musicians were stereotyped as unreliable and erratic, the MJQ played concert halls wearing tuxedos. They are not known to have ever been late, missed a gig or disappointed an audience. Evolving out of Dizzy Gillespie's mid-1940s big band, the four musicians in the rhythm section embarked on a sideline project, making for a very self-sufficient group as they discovered that they had a great deal of musical chemistry. Earlier MJQ recordings came out individually on 78s, 45s, EPs, and 10-inch vinyl. Concorde, released in 1955, was the first MJQ session conceived specifically as an integral whole for a full-length album.