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John Lewis was one of the most honored and important American pianists to emerge in the 1940s. He was highly respected as both a pianist and composer, but is certainly best know as the music director of the Modern Jazz Quartet from 1952, until it played it’s last concert on October 27, 1994. I wasn’t there at the beginning, but I was around for the last one because we produced it and I even managed to take some pictures of the rehearsal and then sneak a few from the balcony of the performance. The quartet was an outgrowth of friendships formed in the 1940s, when John, Milt Jackson, Ray Brown and Kenny Clarke were members of Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. Kenny was the drummer, and Ray the bassist, even when it was known as The Milt Jackson Quartet. There were a few recordings and performances as Milt’s group, but by 1952, it had become The Modern Jazz Quartet and the name stuck. Percy Heath replaced Ray Brown early on and was with the quartet from the beginning of the name change; Connie Kay replaced Kenny Clarke in 1955 and there were no personnel changes for the rest of the group’s existence. We’d long wanted to have The Modern Jazz Quartet as part of a Floating Jazz Festival, but the quartet’s management resisted us. They actually didn’t even want to talk to us, we were beneath them, or so it seemed. This annoyed us so we decided to do an end run, bypass the stuffy managers and go directly to the source of power: the wives of the members of the quartet. The first call was made to Sandy Jackson, who’d been on the S/S Norway in the past and we knew she’d had a good time. She thought it was a good idea to have the MJQ onboard and began to work the telephones on our behalf. It only took a couple of weeks to work it out and the quartet agreed to play two evening concerts at that year’s festival. To make it even better, they didn’t hold us up, which probably annoyed their management as well. I didn’t get to know John that week beyond courteous small talk, and except for concerts I attended, well away from the stage, this week at sea was the only time I spent in his company. More recently, I found my self frequently in the company of Mirjana Lewis, his widow, at the functions Ahmet Ertegun hosted at Jazz At Lincoln Center for the Neshui Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, and Mirjana and I fondly remembered that cheerful festival in the Caribbean. The quartet presented two concerts a night on two different evenings. They were up against three other rooms full of stars, but the theater was packed for each show. I actually felt sorry for the artists in the other rooms; they were used to a full house as well, but not that night. I don’t think John, Milt, Percy and Connie were even aware of the audience; they seemed concerned with the music and little else. The final concert was at 10:45 PM on a Thursday evening. It was sublime but I don’t think anyone suspected it would be the last for this legendary group. This is what happened. The S/S Norway pulled into Miami on 29 October, the passengers departed and we supervised the disembarkation of the musicians and their guests. I thought everyone was accounted for, on buses, taxis or limousines, when I noticed Connie Kay sitting alone on one of his drum cases. I went over and asked about why he hadn’t gone to the airport with all the others. He said he was waiting for friends and would take a later flight. We talked about the week and he asked about a tape he’d seen on the closed circuit television we ran during the cruise, and how he’d really like to have a copy. I said no problem, that I’d make him a copy when I got back to New York City. I made the copy sent it off to Connie and a week later returned to Miami to produce our annual Big Bands At Sea, which concluded on December 3rd. After the ship docked, we disembarked and headed to the airport. I found a copy of The New York Times at an airport newsstand and on the flight home read that Connie had died on November 30th. When I got to the office and checked my call messages I found one from Connie; he’d telephoned on the 29th to thank me for the tape. This meant ours was the last concert with the four men who’d been together for forty years. Perhaps there was some thought about future concerts with a new drummer but I’m unaware of any that took place. In fact, I never saw John Lewis again after the concert on the S/S Norway. He wasn’t exactly retired, but neither was he very active. I don’t remember an announcement for concerts, or even recordings, other than one that released after his death. Nonetheless, he was a remarkable artist for over five decades and was one of the most original voices in jazz performance and composition. I voted for him to be inducted into the Neshui Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame at Jazz At Lincoln Center, but for some reason they cancelled the awards presentation in 2006, promising to do them in 2007. They did, but John didn’t win and he still hasn’t and they’re still cancelling the awards presentations. More recently, Hans Zurbrügg dedicated a room to John at the Innere Enge Hotel in Bern, Switzerland. It is crammed full of memorabilia provided to him by Mirjana Lewis, and John’s traveling harpsichord (how many jazz pianists have a traveling harpsichord?) that was donated by The New School Jazz and Contemporary Music Division. It’s a lovely room and a bit more comfortable than the Hall of Fame. |
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John Lewis, Saga Theater, aboard the S/S Norway at sea, October 27, 1994
