Bags' Groove (composition)

"Bags' Groove" is a jazz composition by Milt Jackson. It was first recorded by the Milt Jackson Quintet on Apr. 7, 1952 for Blue Note Records. Lou Donaldson, John Lewis, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke were on that date. Next was the Mat Mathews quintet with Herbie Mann (July 6, 1953), Bud Powell (Sept. 1953), Mat Mathews again (Sept. 1, 1953), a bootleg version by the MJQ (Oct. 31, 1953), the Lighthouse All-Stars (Feb. 25, 1954), bassist Buddy Banks' quartet (with Bob Dorough and Roy Haynes in Oct. 1954) and then Jay Jay Johnson & Kai Winding (Dec. 3, 1954).

Perhaps the most famous recording was the one by Miles Davis's quintet in 1954. The recording was released on the 1957 album Bags' Groove. "Bags' Groove", along with "Oleo", "Doxy" and "Airegin" from the same album, has become a jazz standard.^[1]

The song was named for vibraphonist Milt Jackson's nickname "Bags".^[2]

Personnel

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Milt Jackson – vibraphone
• Thelonious Monk – piano
• Percy Heath – bass
• Kenny Clarke – drums
• Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone

Notes