Manhattan Jazz Quintet

The Manhattan Jazz Quintet are an unusual group in that they very rarely perform as a unit in the United States (much less Manhattan) but have been a major hit in Japan, both for their recordings and occasional tours. Originally comprised of leader/pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5pkOPTx0WIrGK72ZaP9RJc">David Matthews</a>, trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:5hADqY0YLWaDyc7Ou5BFIo">Lew Soloff</a>, tenor saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:18d2Ll7ndiYeNM1sWsffDM">George Young</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:6HBVTGmPHytchERPb8YGPr">Eddie Gomez</a>, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:42zoEf7IcpDSvdQjcrSpHl">Steve Gadd</a>, the band (which emphasizes straight-ahead hard bop swinging) first came together in 1983 at the suggestion of the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22King%22">King</a> label and the top Japanese jazz magazine Swing Journal. To everyone's surprise, its first recording (simply called Manhattan Jazz Quintet) became such a big seller that it was awarded Swing Journal's annual 1984 Gold Disk Award as the number one album in Japan. Several years later the group broke up when <a href="spotify:artist:6HBVTGmPHytchERPb8YGPr">Gomez</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:42zoEf7IcpDSvdQjcrSpHl">Gadd</a> needed more time to pursue their individual projects -- and all of the quintet members later became quite successful in their own careers -- but this edition of the MJQ recorded reunions in 1990 (which found <a href="spotify:artist:14RXohtx6NiBGFTW8IdmAK">John Scofield</a> guesting on a few selections) and in 1993. <a href="spotify:artist:1cF1EPqYh5bucTrzSQQr0y">Victor Lewis</a> replaced <a href="spotify:artist:42zoEf7IcpDSvdQjcrSpHl">Gadd</a> that year, and subsequently <a href="spotify:artist:18d2Ll7ndiYeNM1sWsffDM">Young</a> was replaced by <a href="spotify:artist:6FaR0vA7ulJTJ1a4BRlJt7">Andy Snitzer</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6HBVTGmPHytchERPb8YGPr">Gomez</a> by <a href="spotify:artist:57CUkoMQiO1joq1JTWeDoI">Charnett Moffett</a>. The Manhattan Jazz Quintet recorded primarily for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22King%22">King</a> in Japan (those dates were mostly made available in the U.S. by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Projazz%22">Projazz</a>) during the 1980s, although they cut some later recordings -- among the comparative very few that actually took place in Manhattan! -- for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sweet+Basil%22">Sweet Basil</a> label. During the new millennium the Manhattan Jazz Quintet have recorded regularly for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Video+Arts%22">Video Arts</a>. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi