Manhattan Jazz Quintet

The Manhattan Jazz Quintet is a jazz ensemble consisting of David Matthews on piano, Lew Soloff on trumpet, Victor Lewis on drums, Andy Snitzer on saxophone, and Charnett Moffett on bass. Previously, the band featured George Young on tenor sax, Eddie Gómez on bass, and Steve Gadd on drums.

The group was formed in 1983 at the suggestion of Japanese jazz magazine Swing Journal and the King record label and won the Gold Disk Award of Swing in 1984.

Gadd left in 1987, with Dave Weckl serving as a replacement in 1988 and 1989, but came back for a reunion in 1990, with John Scofield as guest artist on a number of selections. These later recordings were recorded for the Sweet Basil label.

The group got back together to make two recordings in 1995, and released a record every year from 2000 under the Video Arts Music label. Video Arts also re-released many of the older albums on November 21, 2001, coinciding with the release of the new I Got Rhythm.

Gomez left the band after the recording of Manteca in 1992 and was replaced by Charnett Moffett. Gadd left the band, with Victor Lewis becoming his permanent replacement in 1993; Young left in 2000 and was replaced by Andy Snitzer.

Due to the group's extremely limited distribution in other countries (albums are only available as imports from Japan), it is not well known outside of Japan.

Discography

Album name	Year released	Label	References/notes unless otherwise noted
Manhattan Jazz Quintet	1984	King
Autumn Leaves	1985	King
My Funny Valentine	1986	King
The Sidewinder	1986	King
My Favorite Things: Live In Tokyo	1987	King
Caravan	1988	King	with Dave Weckl on drums
Face to Face	1988	King	with Dave Weckl on drums
Plays Blue Note	1988	King	with Dave Weckl on drums;
The Best of Manhattan Jazz Quintet	1988	Projazz	(compilation)
Live At Pit Inn	1989	King	with Dave Weckl on drums
Manhattan Blues	1990	Sweet Basil/Peter Pan (?)	with Steve Gadd on drums re-released by Video Arts on November 21, 2001
Funky Strut	1991	Sweet Basil	with Peter Erskine on drums re-released by Video Arts on November 21, 2001
Manteca (live)	1992	Evidence	with Peter Erskine on drums re-released by Video Arts on November 21, 2001
Autumn in New York	1993	Sweet Basil	with Victor Lewis on drums re-released by Video Arts on November 21, 2001
Concierto de Aranjuez	1994	Sweet Basil	with both Gadd & Lewis on drums and both Moffett & Gomez on bass re-released by Video Arts on November 21, 2001
Moritat	1995	Peter Pan	with Victor Lewis on drums (and all albums after this point)
The Original Voice	1995	Sweet Basil	re-released by Video Arts on November 21, 2001
La Fiesta	1997	Sweet Basil
Air on the G String	1997	Sweet Basil
'Round Midnight with Terumasa Hino	1998	Sweet Basil
Teen Town	2000	Video Arts	re-released by Video Arts on March 21, 2007
I Got Rhythm	2001	Video Arts	re-released by Video Arts on March 21, 2007
Take Five: Live at the Symphony Hall with Century Orchestra Osaka	2001	Video Arts
Blue Bossa	2003	Video Arts
Take The A Train	2004	Video Arts	re-released by Video Arts on March 21, 2007
Come Together	2005	Video Arts
Someday My Prince Will Come	2007	Video Arts
Best of best 2000-2007 selected by Shigeyuki Kawashima	2008	Video Arts	(compilation)
Best of Best	??	Sweet Basil	(compilation) – includes recordings from 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1994;

Mahattan Jazz Quintet also recorded Good King Wenceslas for the compilation CD Chiaroscuro Christmas.

Filmography

Album name	Year released	Distributor	References/notes
Live at Quatro	??	Music Video Distributors (??)	VHS of 1990 live concert
Live in Tokyo 2005	2006	Video Arts	DVD of live performance; released on May 31, 2006; re-released on September 24, 2008

External links

• (Japanese) MJQ artist page at Video Arts Music