Dave Brubeck

[AndrewHill]

Glad to see another fan of ...Eurasia. For some reason, that one has a little more "depth" than a lot of the others.

Entirely subjective, I know, but hey...

I dig this one too! It was the 2nd Brubeck disk that I pruchased right after Time Out.

[Kalo]

Jazz At Oberlin and

Jazz Impressions of Eurasia

Glad to see another fan of ...Eurasia. For some reason, that one has a little more "depth" than a lot of the others.

Entirely subjective, I know, but hey...

I dig this one too! It was the 2nd Brubeck disk that I pruchased right after Time Out.

I'll have to give it renewed attention if such astute listeners rank it so highly. Found it underwhelming on first encounter, myself (he admits, sheepishly).

[BruceH]

But don't forget, you found Out of the Past underwhelming initially, didn't you?

[Kalo]

But don't forget, you found Out of the Past underwhelming initially, didn't you?

Well, I blame that on my girlfriend at the time. In retrospect, I'd say that she exuded some sort of force-field that could ruin any movie.

[JSngry]

Jazz At Oberlin and

Jazz Impressions of Eurasia

Glad to see another fan of ...Eurasia. For some reason, that one has a little more "depth" than a lot of the others.

Entirely subjective, I know, but hey...

I dig this one too! It was the 2nd Brubeck disk that I pruchased right after Time Out.

I'll have to give it renewed attention if such astute listeners rank it so highly. Found it underwhelming on first encounter, myself (he admits, sheepishly).

Hey, keep in mind that subjectivity rules here, ok?

I will say, though, that at this stage of the Brubeck 4's career arc, that there seemed (to me) to be a "norm" of "sunshine" & "obviousness" to thier work. Now those are loaded words, I know, full of potentially negative connotations, and I don't mean them that way. I only meant that the band was full of nice guys making nice music and enjoying doing it. Hey, nice work if you can get it!

The thing about ...Eurasia for me is that there seems to be some points, especially in Desmond's work, where all that kinda goes into the background, and some genuine...melancholy (none dare call it darkness though!) begins to permeate the proceedings. And that works for me, because I know that no matter how "sunshiney" a person is, they got some of that in them too, unless they're just totally programmed and/or tragically dysfunctional. So it's good to hear this band give out with a little bit of that.

However, once again, as they say, YMMV, and if it does, I'd not worry too much about it!

[BruceH]

But don't forget, you found Out of the Past underwhelming initially, didn't you?

Well, I blame that on my girlfriend at the time. In retrospect, I'd say that she exuded some sort of force-field that could ruin any movie.

Heavens! Good thing you weren't seeing The Third Man with her.

[ep1str0phy]

Also "All the Things We Are" from 1973 or '74--Brubeck, Jack Six, Roy Haynes & Lee Konitz on "Like Someone in Love"; Anthony Braxton replacing Konitz on "In Your Own Sweet Way"; both Konitz and Braxton on "All The Things You Are"; and then a trio of Brubeck, Six and Alan Dawson playing a medley of Jimmy Van Heusen tunes (originally side 2 of the LP).

I think I bought this one on the steam of the guests, but it's quite good for the Brubeck moments--and a lot more meat there than I was expecting. Alan Dawson worked really well against Brubeck, being a precision drummer with a flair for what one might otherwise consider hazardous flourishes.

Re: clifford's post on the first page--inappropriate, but I'll be damned if I can't agree somehow. ( )

[thomastreichler]

I would recommend:

The Great Concerts (Columbia), live recordings from 1958-1963

At Carnegie Hall (Columbia) live 1963, some overlapping with the above

Gone With The Wind, which has already been recommended, is also a wonderful recording.

I have no recordings from the early 50's (pre-Morello period), but this thread inspired me to explore this period as well.

[BruceH]

I would recommend:

The Great Concerts (Columbia), live recordings from 1958-1963

At Carnegie Hall (Columbia) live 1963, some overlapping with the above

Gone With The Wind, which has already been recommended, is also a wonderful recording.

I have no recordings from the early 50's (pre-Morello period), but this thread inspired me to explore this period as well.

The early stuff is surprisingly fertile, actually. I think you'll dig it.

[Jazz Kat]

Brubeck was one of my first artists I idolized. My dad had Time Out and I started playing it 24 hours a day and eventually went out to get more albums. The group really came together when Joe Morello joined the group. I believe one of the first albums to have Morello was Dave Digs Disney, which was in the same style as the earlier quartet albums. Around 1958, the quartet started to have really good arrangements, and then Time Out came.

Here are some of my favorite albums:

Gone With The Wind

Time Further Out

Time In Space

Time In

Time Changes

Bossa Nova USA

Southern Scene

Jazz Impressions of New York

There are also a couple of albums where clarinet player Bill Smith replaces Desmond. These recordings are on the Fantasy label and are worth checking out. I don't miss Desmond at all, and I'm really a fan of Desmond.

I just thought I'd add one of Desmond's best solos is on the Impressions of Japan album. It's the first track where he quote's St. Thomas.

[thomastreichler]

I would recommend:

The Great Concerts (Columbia), live recordings from 1958-1963

At Carnegie Hall (Columbia) live 1963, some overlapping with the above

Gone With The Wind, which has already been recommended, is also a wonderful recording.

I have no recordings from the early 50's (pre-Morello period), but this thread inspired me to explore this period as well.

The early stuff is surprisingly fertile, actually. I think you'll dig it.

I just ordered "Jazz At the College Of The Pacific" (Fantasy) and "Jazz Goes To College" (Columbia), will report back when I have got them and have listened to them.

[thomastreichler]

Yesterday by chance I came across this one:

It contains all of "Jazz At The College Of The Pacific" except "Laura", a rendition of "Out Of Nowhere", recorded 1954 at the University of Cincinnati, and three tracks ("Stardust", "Perdido", "How High The Moon") from the "Oberlin" concert, all in excellent sound. These are wonderful recordings with great soloing and interplay by Desmond and Brubeck.

Edited September 25, 2007 by Tommy T

[BruceH]

Yesterday by chance I came across this one:

It contains all of "Jazz At The College Of The Pacific" except "Laura", a rendition of "Out Of Nowhere", recorded 1954 at the University of Cincinnati, and three tracks ("Stardust", "Perdido", "How High The Moon") from the "Oberlin" concert, all in excellent sound. These are wonderful recordings with great soloing and interplay by Desmond and Brubeck.

I've never seen that before, but it sounds like it might be a bargain if you didn't already have the College Of the Pacific and Oberlin albums.

[thomastreichler]

Yesterday by chance I came across this one:

It contains all of "Jazz At The College Of The Pacific" except "Laura", a rendition of "Out Of Nowhere", recorded 1954 at the University of Cincinnati, and three tracks ("Stardust", "Perdido", "How High The Moon") from the "Oberlin" concert, all in excellent sound. These are wonderful recordings with great soloing and interplay by Desmond and Brubeck.

I've never seen that before, but it sounds like it might be a bargain if you didn't already have the College Of the Pacific and Oberlin albums.

This album is part of the french Dreyfus Reference series, to my ears it has great sound, but opinions differ.

[Teasing the Korean]

There are also a couple of albums where clarinet player Bill Smith replaces Desmond. These recordings are on the Fantasy label and are worth checking out...

There's one on Columbia, too, called "The Riddle." For some reason it doesn't show up as often as the other Columbia albums. Really terrific, modern, longhair stuff.

[BruceH]

Another vote for "All Together Again For The First Time"--Brubeck, Desmond, Mulligan, Jack Six on bass, and the great Alan Dawson in the drum chair, a worthy successor to Morello. I wore that sucker out when I was in high school.

Also "All the Things We Are" from 1973 or '74--Brubeck, Jack Six, Roy Haynes & Lee Konitz on "Like Someone in Love"; Anthony Braxton replacing Konitz on "In Your Own Sweet Way"; both Konitz and Braxton on "All The Things You Are"; and then a trio of Brubeck, Six and Alan Dawson playing a medley of Jimmy Van Heusen tunes (originally side 2 of the LP).

That first one is a really good album. The second one I'd like to find.

Anyone get the new Brubeck solo album yet?

[Hot Ptah]

The Brubeck album with Lee Konitz and Anthony Braxton is one of my least favorite Brubecks. It is an idea that looks fascinating on paper. The recorded results are good, but not mindblowing, to me, and the working band group cohesion which I find so enjoyable on many Brubeck albums is not there.

[montg]

Jazz Impressions Of Japan !

I picked this up recently & listening to it now--very nice! Koto song is a real beauty.

[mandrill]

Perhaps my favorite Brubeck album.

[Rooster_Ties]

I heard "Time Out" and probably 1 or 2 other Brubeck titles some 20+ years ago back in college, and never gave them another thought. But I just stumbled on a promo disc that I forgot I had ("Jam Session: America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World"). It has two tracks from "Jazz Impressions of Eurasia", namely "The Golden Horn" and "Thank You (Dziekuje)" -- both of which I'm finding surprisingly convincing.

A quick search around here and elsewhere, and I get the idea that a couple of the deeper Brubeck titles might be "Eurasia", and Jazz Impressions of Japan.

Yes? No? Anything else 'Brubeck' that I should consider instead??

Based on the two tracks I'm hearing, I think my wife might like "Eurasia" too. I'm probably only up for 2 Brubeck titles, or 3 max.

Edited May 15, 2011 by Rooster_Ties

[JSngry]

Yes.

[B. Goren.]

Yes.

[jazzbo]

Mark, it's hard to fathom recommendations for someone who hasn't had any interest in Brubeck for so long. I'll toss out "Jazz Impressions of New York" and if you ever stumble across a reasonably priced copy of the Japanese import (only way it's on cd so far) grab "Anything Goes."

[marcoliv]

I second Anything Goes

MCO

[Stonewall15]

I recommend you consider "Jackpot- Live In Las Vegas" This has not been re-issued on CD (and probably will never be). The LP (Columbia CL-2712 Mono or CS-9512 Stereo) is available frequently on eBay.

Before Brubeck went with Columbia he recorded a lot of albums on the Fantasy label. Many people feel these were his best recordings. All the Fantasy LPs have been released on CD. I recommend "Jazz At Wilshire-Ebell" as a good example of his Fantasy years.