Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dave Brubeck: Brubeck In Wonderland

449

Dave Brubeck: Brubeck In Wonderland

By

View read count
Dave Brubeck: Brubeck In Wonderland
Brubeck recorded his most durable work with Time Out, which launched a series of successful albums by the stately jazzman for the Columbia label in 1959. However, his earlier works for the Fantasy label, which find him fully entrenched in the cool scene, are arguably more rewarding. Brubeck had not yet stumbled upon the gimmickry of the odd time signatures and tributes to foreign countries that dominated his '60s recordings. Instead, these early recordings feature a more ragged kind of daring, as the pianist imposes his skewed ideas of rhythm and meter to a program made largely of standards.

The bulk of the material on this compilation culls tracks from the series of albums that Brubeck recorded live at various colleges from Oberlin (Ohio) to the College of the Pacific (California). Brubeck is already monkeying with introductions and adding rhythmic displacement to the heads of tunes like "All the Things You Are that demonstrate that he's up to something a little more interesting than everyone else on the West Coast.

"Alice In Wonderland showcases the beginnings of Brubeck's penchant for beautiful melodies in unusual time signatures (in this case a relatively safe 3/4), a technique that became his bread and butter. These recordings also showcase a mature working quartet with saxophonist Paul Desmond, whose suave, elegant delivery was the perfect foil to Brubeck's choppy, aggressive comping. Sure the later Columbia records are more polished, but at this early date the quartet seems energized and invigorated by all the possibilities offered by the direction Brubeck was heading.

A couple of early tracks kick off the album and show what Brubeck was up to in his earliest recordings. Two tracks from the semi-famous octet sessions have the air of college compositions about them, yet are an interesting detour from the jazz being parlayed at the time. A trio track featuring Cal Tjader on vibes (and then switching to drums) features a bizarrely off-kilter head for "Lullaby in Rhythm and the playfulness of guys coming together to try out new ideas.

Track Listing

Playland at the Beach; Serenade Suite; Lullaby In Rhythm; Mam'Selle; Alice In Wonderland; Crazy Chris; The Way You Look Tonight; How High the Moon; Trolley Song; All the Things you Are; Laura; Stardust; Le Souk; Audrey.

Personnel

Dave Brubeck: piano; Paul Desmond: alto sax; David Van Kreidt: tenor sax; Bob Collins: baritone sax; Dick Collins: trumpet; Bill Smith: clarinet; Jack Weeks, Ron Crotty, Wyatt Ruther, Bob Bates: bass; Cal Tjader: drums, vibes; Lloyd Davis, Joe Dodge: drums.

Album information

Title: Brubeck In Wonderland | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: FiveFour

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.