The Modern Jazz Quartet – Pyramid (Pure Pleasure)

With such a tight group as the MJQ is is impossible to single out individual musicians which probably accounts for their long lived success.

This is a strong recording from the Modern Jazz Quartet, with inventive versions of John Lewis' "Vendome," Ray Brown's "Pyramid," Jim Hall's "Romaine," and Lewis' famous "Django," along with cooking jams on "How High the Moon" and "It Don't Mean a Thing." The MJQ had become a jazz institution by this time, but they never lost their creative edge, and their performances (even on the remakes) are quite stimulating, enthusiastic, and fresh. Scott Yanow/AMG

Every track is a gem, the stand out track being "Django" (recorded many times; is this the definitive version? I think so). The title track (written by Ray Brown) is "Pyramid" (11 min) which is also a pearl. R Bawden

Review: By John Crossett June 2017

Musically, “Pyramid” is among the best titles the MJQ ever recorded. Six tunes, including their masterpiece, John Lewis’s “Django,” Ray Brown’s title tune (which clocks in at just under 11 swinging minutes), Jim Hall’s “Romaine,” Lewis’s “Vendrome,” and two standards, “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and “How High The Moon.” And while each track is of top quality, the real standout’s here are “Django” (and this may be the ultimate recording of this most popular MJQ tune) and “Pyramid.” And this title, remastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering in London (Ray does much of his best work for Pure Pleasure), is THE copy any lover of jazz and fan of the Modern Jazz Quartet will want to own. It takes what was a classic jazz title and breathes new life into it, thereby ensuring that the listener will get as close to the music as possible. It’s albums like this one that teach us why we owe a huge debt of gratitude to those reissue companies like Pure Pleasure for bringing us quality pressings of musical titles that might otherwise be lost to time. Don’t miss this one, you’ll kick yourself forever if you do.