''Blues on Bach'' is an album by American jazz group the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), ...

recorded in 1973 and released on the Atlantic label.Modern Jazz Quartet discography
accessed June 1, 2012 The album includes five John Lewis arrangements of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, interspersed with four original blues pieces "on"

he name He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

"Bach"—in keys (and with titles) that spell out in order the name B-A-C-H. The five pieces arranged from Bach originals are: "Regret?" from " The Old Year Has Now Passed Away"; "Rise Up in the Morning" from " Sleepers Wake"; "Precious Joy" from " Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"; "Don't Stop This Train" from a selection in "

Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach ''Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach'' (Bach's original spelling: ''Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach'') is a collection of keyboard music compiled by the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach for his eldest son Wil ...

"; and "Tears from the Children" from the Prelude 8 in E-flat minor from Book I of "

The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...

"). For the four blues pieces, the "spelling" of the titles follows the system Bach and his German contemporaries used, in which the letter B indicates B-flat, and the letter H is B-natural. So, the four blues pieces that spell the name B-A-C-H are in the keys of B-flat (major), A (minor), C (minor) and B (major).

Reception

The Allmusic review stated "This album has an interesting concept, alternating four original blues with five adaptations of melodies icfrom classical works by Bach. The Modern Jazz Quartet had long been quite adept in both areas, and despite a certain lack of variety on this set (alternating back and forth between the two styles somewhat predictably), the music is largely enjoyable".Yanow, S
Allmusic Review
accessed June 1, 2012

Track listing

''All compositions by John Lewis except as indicated'' # "Regret?" - 2:04 # "Blues in B Flat" - 4:56 # "Rise Up in the Morning" - 3:28 # "Blues in A Minor" - 7:53 # "Precious Joy" - 3:12 # "Blues in C Minor" (Milt Jackson) - 7:58 # "Don't Stop This Train" - 1:45 # "Blues in H (B)" (Jackson) - 5:46 # "Tears from the Children" - 4:25

Personnel

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...

- vibraphone * John Lewis - piano,

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

Percy Heath Percy Heath (April 30, 1923 – April 28, 2005) was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Connie Kay -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{Authority control Atlantic Records albums Modern Jazz Quartet albums 1972 albums Albums produced by Nesuhi Ertegun