GEORGE HARRISON & THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET, 1969

In 1969 George Harrison recorded several hours worth of mostly improvised jazz instrumentals.

George recorded with bassist Percy Heath and drummer Connie Kay of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Percy Heath disclosed the existence of the recordings during an interview in the wake of George’s death, and the news has surprised the Beatles experts.

“Connie and I went into the studio with George. he wanted to make a jazz record” said Heath.

The session was in London, when the MJQ was there to record “Space,” the second and last album the MJQ would record for Apple. “We spent a day at the studio. Harrison wanted to play some jazz, and he was improvising pretty well. A musician is a musician, and you’d be surprised about who could play jazz and blues. We enjoyed the date with him.”