Billboard : 03/03/1962
Four Stars

When Milt Jackson plays outside of the confines of the Modern Jazz Quartet he sheds his formal clothes and swings a bit. And he turns in some nicely relaxed and swinging work on this new set, aided ably by Hank Jones on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Connie Kay on drums. The tunes include both originals and standards, such as Jackson’s own Statement and A Thrill From the Blues. A more introspective Jackson is heard on the sweeter Paris Blues and Slowly.

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Cashbox : 03/17/1962

Milt Jackson and his quartet which consists of Milt on vibraharp, Hank Jones on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Connie Kay on drums demonstrate their artistry as top-drawer musicians on listenable disk form Impulse. The quartet’s ebullient, feelingful style carries them in good stead as they render A Thrill from the Blues, a Jackson original, Paris Blues, and Sonny Rollins‘ Sonnymoon for Two. Set should be a welcome asset with most jazz lovers.

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California Eagle
The Reviewer : 03/08/1962

Bags and his coherent cohorts produced in this record one of the most relaxed albums I’ve heard in a long, long time. The emotional stimulation that Milt Jackson extracts from these melodies is definitely implied and not played. That is the mark of a true artist.

Milt Jackson has told a Down Beat interviewer “I dig being completely relaxed – although music has always been a serious thing to me.” Accordingly this set of unpressured, flowing conversations between Milt, Hank Jones, Paul Chambers, and Connie Kay represents Milt in what is for him an exceptionally satisfying context.

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Kansas City Call
Bob Greene : 03/23/1962

Milt Jackson has reached the pinnacle of success as the well-disciplined vibist with the extremely formal Modern Jazz Quartet. Here, on this Impulse 12-incher, he proves that is a master of beauty, whether it be draped with the regal robes of a queen or clothed with the shabby rags of a peasant.

Jackson takes the most simple line and plays it in a most simple manner. But the resulting melody is haunting, if that is the mood he is after; vibrant, if the author calls for it; wistful if that is what will bring out the desired feelings. Milt has the uncanny knack of making every song in this LP sound like it was written only for him.

Complimenting the vibraharpist in this venture are Hank Jones on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Connie Kay on drums. Hank is one of those rare individuals who can play any style without losing his own identity. Connie is a teammate of Jackson’s with the MJQ and here demonstrates his ability to produce perfect support for the soft sounds of the vibes and never overpowering Milt.

Paul Chambers is one of my favorites on the bass. He first attainted stardom with the exciting Red Garland trio and now is the resident anchor man for the Miles Davis sextet.

The Milt Jackson quartet plays (MJQ, by the way) plays extraordinarily good jazz from the first note of Statement to the final bar of the theme from The Bad and the Beautiful. The group’s treatment of David Raskin‘s Slowly and Duke Ellington‘s Paris Blues is worth the price of the entire deluxe LP.

A very good buy.

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Kitchener-Waterloo Record
Trev Bennett : 04/28/1962

Jackson, without the slightest doubt, is the most expressive and influential vibist of our time. He is – as the saying goes – a musician’s musician, to the highest degree. I can think of no other jazz musician alive who consistently injects more feeling and spontaneity into his playing than Milt. From the opening track Statement, he sails away on his instrument with great gusto and imagination and continues his incomparable flight through to the album’s end. To accompany him in this relaxed, informal setting, Jackson wisely chose the talents of pianist Hank Jones bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Connie Kay. While all three turn in an exemplary performance, Kay is most deserving of mention. Having reached an increased level of maturity and stature, he is not able to be labelled merely a drummer, but, an artist. He digs in solidly here providing Jackson with discreet, but swinging, backing. Album includes four groovy originals by Jackson and superb sound reproduction.

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San Francisco Chronicle
Ralph J. Gleason : 05/06/1962

With Paul Chambers, bass, Hank Jones, piano, and Connie Kay, drums, vibraphonist Milt Jackson has produced an LP that is certain to delight his fans. For one thing, he dominates the album with his own improvisations, as opposed to his work with the Modern Jazz Quartet in which he is incorporated into the quartet’s scheme. It is also refreshing to hear him in the unusual surroundings of Paul Chambers and Hank Jones. No qualitative judgement involved; it’s just different and interesting and another aspect of Jackson’s musical personality. The eight tunes in the album include blues and ballads and original compositions by Jackson, Duke Ellington and Sonny Rollins; The Bad and the Beautiful is one of Jackson’s most expressive lyric efforts. This is a fine album in every way.

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Down Beat : 05/10/1962
Leonard G. Feather : 3.5 stars

The meaning of this album is made clear in the first paragraph of the liner notes. In one masterful syllogism, Nat Hentoff manages to imply that (a) Jackson doesn’t feel comfortable in the formal setting of the Modern Jazz Quartet; (b) the MJQ often makes a fine setting for Jackson; therefore, (c) he sounds much better here.

The fact is, of course, that whenever he plays completely ad lib, Jackson doesn’t sound substantially different in or out of the MJQ, as his Very Tall LP with Oscar Peterson made quite clear.

The present set, though lacking the unique drive of which Peterson is capable, does have some typically mature Jones piano and admirable support from Kay and Chambers, the latter deserving a heavy share of the credit for the success of Sonnymoon. And Jackson swings unquenchably whether it’s John Lewis, Peterson, or Jones comping in the background.

A better title than Statements would have been Comments; the set is informal to the point of formlessness, leaning heavily on the blues. There are some tender moments in the two Dave Raksin themes and in Jackson’s own pretty Romance. There is, however, a slight disagreement about the changes at the 24th bar in the first chorus of Slowly.

Minor faults like this aside, there is nothing to complain about in this amiably unpretentious example of Bags at his best.

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Liner Notes by Nat Hentoff

The Man
“I don’t feel comfortable in formal clothes or formal settings,” Milt Jackson has told a Down Beat interviewer. “I dig being completely relaxed – although music has always been a serios thing to me.” Accordingly, this set of unpressured, flowing conversations between Milt, Hank Jones, Paul Chambers, and Connie Kay represents Milt in what is for him an exceptionally satisfying context. It is true that many of the Modern Jazz Quartet arrangements set off Milt’s unquenchable solo spontaneity with particular clarity, but the essential Milt Jackson can be most fully heard in this informal session.

Hank Jones, who has recorded with Milt before, said after the date that “I’ve never worked with Bags when he seemed more relaxed.” One releasing factor, Milt points out, is that he finds this kind of recording situation a stimulating contrast to his normal functioning in the Modern Jazz Quartet. “It’s good to get away from the more formal scene every once in a while. It keeps me refreshed. Especially when I can work with someone like Hank Jones, who is so very much underrated.” In addition to the sturdy Paul Chambers, resident anchor man in the Miles Davis sextet, Milt asked for his regular percussion associate with the MJQ, Connie Kay. “For my instrument,” Milt points out, “Connie provides perfect support. Unlike some other drummers, Connie never gets in the way. After all, I don’t have a horn and so I can’t overpower him. He has to play for me, and that’s exactly what he does. I think it’s also good for him to get away from the MJQ occasionally so that he can – as he does here – just do some plain and simple swinging.”

As for Milt’s own work, perhaps the most concise description of his style is that by Don DeMichael, editor of Down Beat, and a former vibist himself: “…the slow vibrato, varied to fit the tempo, although he does not always use a vibrato; the use of space; a blues feeling no matter what the tempo or piece; a liking for minor keys; sly humor; a time conception unparalleled; distinct solo form and shape; and a way of implying more than is played – the mark of an artist.”

Hank Jones adds one other distinguishing element: “The biggest thing about Milt is feeling. He gets more emotional mileage out of a melody than any other vibist. Others may feel a song as deeply as he does, but he somehow can express more emotion. It’s fantastic what he can make out of the most simple line.”

Four of the tracks in this album are original compositions by Milt, and they emphasize the increasing time he is spending on writing. “I guess I’ve come to that period in my life,” says Milt, “when I have to think more about myself, about my long-range goals. And writing is going to be an important part of my future. For one thing, it will eventually be one way I can keep off the road a little more.”

The Music
Statement, speaks for itself with regard to its title. “All I can tell you about it,” Milt observes, “is that this is my statement about the way I feel about jazz. It’s straightforward and relaxed. I never have wanted to venture too far out. It’s all right to go out there once in a while, but suppose you go out there once and can’t come back.” Milt, in short, is very much a modern traditionalist, to use Cannonball Adderley‘s term. His playing goes back to the most basic blues foundation, and also distills the past twenty years of modern jazz. From this scope of absorption in the jazz language, Milt has shaped so penetratingly personal a style that he is, of course, the most influential vibist of his generation. Now, like the major jazz figures before him, he is using his years of maturity to further perfect his skills, stripping his style of superfluities and focusing on the emotional core of whatever he plays. In the incisive Statement, for example, there is a sustained feeling of inevitability – as if each note is in its exact place and not one needs to be added or taken away. Hank Jones has the same quality of conciseness and luminous clarity. Throughout the album, there is a subtle, complementary interplay between the two with Milt on occasion somewhat more ebullient than Hank and Hank providing a gentling counterpoise to Milt’s high spirits.

Slowly, a surprisingly underplayed David Raksin song, was originally written for the movie, Fallen Angel. Although the Modern Jazz Quartet has not yet recorded it, the song is in its repertory and his reinforced Milt’s affection for Raksin’s songs. Raksin, in turn, is an admirer of the MJQ and is often in attendance when they play California. An interesting footnote to Milt’s choice of Slowly is that the tune was among the first batch of arrangements John Lewis submitted to Dizzy Gillespie‘s big band in the mid-1940s when both John and Milt were sidemen in it. The yearning melody is thoroughly suited to Milt’s romantic temperament and to his delight in ruminative lyricism.

A Thrill From the Blues is dedicated to a cousin of Milt’s from Detroit, Bob Marable, who suggested the title. “It’s just a straight blues,” says Milt, “the kind that doesn’t need words like ‘soul’ to describe it.” “The thing about Milt’s blues,” adds Hank Jones, “is that while they have the traditional flavor, they’re very much blues for today. With him, nothing gets stale and everything becomes personal.”

Paris Blues. To Milt Jackson, Duke Ellington is “a genius, man. That’s the end of that.” And so, he was eager to include an Ellington number. Milt was attracted to the floating tenderness of Duke’s theme song for the film, Paris Blues. Hearing of the session, Duke sent over a lead sheet; and on listening to the results, it occurs to me that if Milt had ever been in Duke’s band, this is exactly the kind of piece Duke would have tailored specifically for him.

Put Off is the title that comes from Milt’s last term as associate professor at The School of Jazz in Lenox, Massachusetts. His wife Sandy had been nudging him to use some of his free time to write. Milt finally did, and having no longer put it off, he dedicated the loping song to his wife’s recurrent suggestion.

A Beautiful Romance is another of Milt’s lambent achievements in this form. He hops soon to put his own lyrics to the tune as he already has done with Heartstrings.

Sonnymoon for Two is Milt’s tribute to its composer, Sonny Rollins. “It’s been marvelous,” says Milt, “to have Sonny return, and return so brilliantly. Whenever you do another musician’s tune, it’s your way of showing your respect for him in public. I picked this one because, as someone who is partial to the blues, his line here captivated me. There’s no difficulty in making this piece move, in making it say something.”

The Bad and the Beautiful, also by David Ruksin, reveals again the underside of the buoyantly swinging Jackson evident in Sonnymoon for Two. Equal in strength to Milt’s bouts with euphoria is his penchant for brooding nostalgia and, as a result, he is utterly convincing on ballads without having to double-time them into stompers.

Recalling the session as a whole, A&R director Bob Thiele noted the strikingly instantaneous sensitivity between the musicians. “They’d just look at one another and know what to do.” “Sure,” said Milt, “you come to know each other over a period of years, and there’s very little conversation necessary, especially when on a date like this. We all knew we were there to play for ourselves, so there was no confusion anywhere along the line. There can’t be when you’re doing what feels natural.” And in sum, it is this quality of easeful spontaneity that makes this album so vivid a representation of the natural Milt Jackson.