Milt Jackson · First recorded by the Milt Jackson Quintet for Blue Note in 1952
Bags' Groove
Vibraphonist Milt Jackson wrote this blues and recorded it first with his quintet on April 7, 1952. The title borrows his nickname, Bags, and the simple blues form gives players room for long solos. The path starts with Jackson's own record and ends with Jackie McLean's alto saxophone in 1996.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Milt Jackson's own 1952 record, then the all-star session of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Jackson in 1954. It continues with two Modern Jazz Quartet versions, three piano trios and a 1996 alto saxophone quartet.
Milt Jackson, nicknamed Bags, recorded his tune first on April 7, 1952, at WOR Studios in New York for Blue Note, with Lou Donaldson on alto saxophone and John Lewis, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke behind him. It came out on Blue Note 1593 and later on the album Wizard of the Vibes.
F major · 4/4 · swing · 175 bpm (medium up)
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Listen for
A vibraphone and an alto saxophone lead a of piano, bass and drums, and the whole record lasts 3:06. The blues comes round every twelve , so the same short cycle returns for each solo.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 4 of the : , , F7, F7, one per bar. Smaller version: play F7 and B♭7 only, two bars each.
Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke recorded two takes on December 24, 1954, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. On the recording Monk stays out of Davis's solo, at Davis's request, then takes a solo of his own.
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Listen for
At 11:16 this is the longest record on the path, with trumpet, vibraphone and piano in the . Listen for the piano staying silent while the trumpet solos, then stepping forward for a solo of its own.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 to 8: , B♭7, , then to in bar 8. Smaller version: play B♭7 for two bars and F7 for two bars, and skip Am7 and D7.
Jackson's own group, the Modern Jazz Quartet, recorded the tune in New York City on April 5, 1957, for the Atlantic album named after the group. Connie Kay was the quartet's drummer from 1955.
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Listen for
Only four instruments play: vibraphone, piano, bass and drums, in a 5:40 record. With so few players, each one is easy to follow through the cycle.
Try it on your instrument
Play 9 to 12: , , to , Gm7 to C7, which lead back to the top. Smaller version: play Gm7, C7, F7 and C7, one bar each.
“Bags' Groove (Live at Music Inn with Sonny Rollins)”, The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn with Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2
In August 1958 the Modern Jazz Quartet played at Music Inn with tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins as a guest. Atlantic released this live track on a 1959 album.
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Listen for
Sonny Rollins's tenor saxophone joins the quartet, so there are two lead voices, saxophone and vibraphone. At 8:45 the track runs longer than the 1957 studio version.
Try it on your instrument
Play all twelve once: , , F7, F7, B♭7, B♭7, F7, to , , , F7 to D7, Gm7 to C7. Smaller version: play only the first eight bars.
Bryant's trio recorded the tune in New York on February 18, 1966, for the Cadet album Gotta Travel On. Discogs lists the album as soul jazz.
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Another piano trio, this time from the soul-jazz side: Ray Bryant leads with Walter Booker on bass and Freddie Waits on drums. The track is 5:28, close to the Peterson trio's length.
Try it on your instrument
Play a simpler blues in F with only , and : four of F7, two of B♭7, two of F7, one of C7, one of B♭7, then two of F7. Smaller version: use only F7 and B♭7.
Hampton Hawes and Martial Solal recorded the album Key for Two in Paris in early January 1968. On this track Hawes plays with bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Kenny Clarke, and Solal does not play piano.
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Kenny Clarke, the drummer on the 1952 and 1954 records, plays here with bassist Pierre Michelot. The only pianist is Hampton Hawes, since the album's second pianist sits out this track.
Try it on your instrument
Play the twelve twice, first with held and then with short chord hits. Smaller version: play held chords only, one per bar, with and sharing bar 8.
McLean recorded the tune at the Power Station in New York between January 28 and 31, 1996, with pianist Junko Onishi, for the album Hat Trick. It was released that year on Somethin' Else.
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Jackie McLean's alto saxophone leads, with Junko Onishi on piano. The record runs 4:34, shorter than the 1950s jam sessions on the path.
Try it on your instrument
If you can solo over , improvise one over the twelve ; this takes more skill than the other steps. Smaller version: play the root of each , one note per bar, while you listen for the saxophone.
Milt Jackson records the tune with his quintet in April 1952. Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Jackson record it in December 1954, and the Modern Jazz Quartet plays it in 1957 and again with Sonny Rollins in 1958.
1960s
Oscar Peterson's trio records it in December 1962 for the album Night Train. Ray Bryant's trio follows in 1966, and Hampton Hawes plays it with a bass and drums trio in Paris in 1968.
1970s
The Modern Jazz Quartet plays it at its farewell concert at Avery Fisher Hall in November 1974.
1990s
Jackie McLean plays it on alto saxophone with pianist Junko Onishi's quartet in January 1996, for the album Hat Trick.
2000s
Gary Burton plays it on vibraphone in 2000, and Curtis Fuller plays it on trombone in 2003. Jim Hall and Bill Frisell record it as a guitar duo in 2007.
More great versions
5 more, from 1957 to 2003. Tap a cover to play it here.
Mobley led a sextet with trumpeter Bill Hardman and pianist Sonny Clark at Van Gelder's studio on June 23, 1957. Blue Note released the track on the album Hank Mobley in 1958.
Tenor saxophonist Don Byas played the tune live at Ronnie Scott's club in London in 1965 with pianist Stan Tracey, bassist Rick Laird and drummer Tony Crombie. The take runs more than thirteen minutes.
“Bags' Groove (Live at Lincoln Center)”, The Complete Last Concert
The Modern Jazz Quartet played the tune at its farewell concert at Avery Fisher Hall in November 1974. The full concert came out as The Complete Last Concert in 1988.
Vibraphonist Gary Burton recorded the tune in 2000 for the Concord album For Hamp, Red, Bags, and Cal. On this track he plays with pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash.
Trombonist Curtis Fuller recorded the tune in Chicago on August 31 and September 1, 2003, for the Delmark album Up Jumped Spring. Trumpeter Brad Goode plays alongside him.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
F majorusual key
12 barsA form
F majorkey centers
A12 bars
F
One repeats for the whole tune. Bars 1 to 4 are , , F7 and F7. Bars 5 and 6 stay on B♭7, bar 7 returns to F7, and bar 8 is to . Bar 9 is , bar 10 is , bar 11 is F7 to D7, and bar 12 is Gm7 to C7, which leads back to the top. The follow the iReal Pro chart; players often vary them.