The Modern Jazz Quartet - Animal Dance

Although Louisiana in general and New Orleans in particular never regained the widespread popular influence it enjoyed during the 1950s and early 1960s, the state’s R&B traditions remained very much alive.

In the state’s southwestern region, swamp pop music by white musicians immersed in R&B traditions like The Boogie Kings, remains locally popular. Pioneered in the 1950s by Clifton Chenier, zydeco remains vital today... The Meters, helped to advance the rhythmically muscular descendent of R&B known as funk. They became precursors to The Neville Brothers.

Also in the 1970s, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, an annual celebration of Gulf Coast cultures, began to receive national attention, setting the stage for a revival of veteran New Orleans R&B figures... Concurrently, the city generated a new wave of small, neighborhood brass bands, beginning with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the aptly named Rebirth Brass Band, mixing traditional and modern jazz with elements of R&B and funk.

Source: Rhythm and Blues Music by Roger Hahn

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Animal Dance

• Released on: Lonely Woman album
• Produced by: Nesuhi Ertegün
• Released in:1962

"The Modern Jazz Quartet is led by pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Kenny Clarke, joining later were Percy Heath and Connie Kay. One of the first of the classical influenced chamber jazz ensembles."

See previous Song of the Day