Good vibes

I love a good vibraphone. Or, to be more accurate, I love a good vibraphone player.

Sure, seven good vibraphone players, six of them strapless, accompanied by maracas and a standup bassist who goes out of his tree, have their place, I can't deny that. (Don't believe me? Check this out.) But when you're talking vibraphone players, to me it all begins and ends with Milt Jackson, of the Modern Jazz Quartet.

One of the great foursomes in all music history, the MJQ had a look, a sound, and an attitude all their own. I recommend their Complete Last Concert CD, recorded on what they thought was their final concert, in 1974.

Here they are in 1990, performing "Django" on the late night show Night Music.