Darius Brubeck Quartet: Live Again

"I think I play better on stage than in a recording studio," says pianist Darius Brubeck, so it comes as no surprise that his quartet's follow-up to Live In Poland (Ubuntu Music, 2019) is another live recording. Live Again was captured in Italy, where the band were invited to perform seven concerts in four days by the Brass Foundation of Palermo. Eight tracks are taken from the best performances from those concerts, together with an additional track recorded in the UK.

The quartet has been playing together for 20 years and that longevity shows. Dave O'Higgins (tenor saxophone), Matt Ridley (double bass) and Wesley Gibbens (drums) join Brubeck in a display of the spontaneity and musical understanding that comes from two decades of playing together.

Brubeck's career spans five decades, including touring with his father, Dave Brubeck, along with brothers Chris and Dan, and his pioneering educational work in South Africa. Now based in the UK, he remains focused on international touring with the quartet. Seven of the album's nine tracks are his compositions.

The opening pair of tracks offer opposing perspectives on Brexit. "Matt's Different Views" is Ridley's composition for solo bass. This precedes the swinging "Brexit Blues," in which O'Higgins and Brubeck offer fleet solos, with Ridley also making his point.

Brubeck's composition, "Playing The Changes," was composed for the documentary Playing The Changes: Tracking Darius Brubeck. The title also derives from a book written by Brubeck and his wife, Cathy, concerning their transformative work in the jazz scene of apartheid-era South Africa. Brubeck's solo is timeless and elegant, distinguished by his impeccable sense of timing, alongside solos from bass and saxophone.

Gibbens sets up a buoyant groove on the aptly titled "Prelude and Funque," where the neat interplay marries Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" with Johann Sebastian Bach's "Prelude No. 20 in A minor." This contrasts well with "Autumn Elegy," where Brubeck and O'Higgins bring in a plaintive and bittersweet mood. O'Higgins sits out "Transkei," leaving piano and drums to combine to great effect, but he returns on "Searching For," an unaccompanied performance that is free-flowing and unconstrained.

"SLEE" is the final of the Italian recordings, with Gibbens' solo stealing the show. The album concludes with "Somebody In Seoul," whose Arirang-inspired melody reflects Brubeck's interest in Korean culture.

Live Again is the work of a mature quartet whose synergy and improvisational interplay flourish in front of an audience. With Brubeck giving each musician room to stretch out, they offer a winning mix of classic jazz and contemporary flair, the work of an exceptional ensemble.