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Brubeck's solo on "Prince" offers a template to his logical approach to improvising, heard again and again throughout the CD's 50-year span of Brubeck's Monterey gigs. He begins creating small kernels of single notes from chords, developing phrases that reference "I Got Rhythm" then rumbles into block chords, yielding a new riff logically clambering up through two-handed chords to a melodic resolution.
While his solo is more back-and-forth rollicking on 2007's "Margie," it develops largely in the same, internally logical, way. The lapidary Desmond style was the perfect foil for the lumberjack penchants of Brubeck, while altoist Bobby Militello, with Brubeck since the '80s, is more predictably hard-boppish. But his flute on 1985's "Tritonis," another 5/4 exploration, is a welcome diversionas are two 1971 tracks from the surprisingly compatible quartet Brubeck had with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, as well as the bass solo contributions of Christian McBride and Michael Moore on the disc's most recent outings.
Track Listing: Two Part Contention; Someday My Prince Will Come; Take Five; Sermon On the Mount; Jumping Bean; Tritonis; Goodbye Old Friend; I Got Rhythm; Sleep; Margie.
Personnel: Dave Brubeck: piano; Paul Desmond: alto sax; Eugene Wright: bass; Joe Morello: drums; Gerry Mulligan: baritone sax; Jack Six: bass; Alan Dawson: drums; Bill Smith: clarinet; Bobby Militello: flute, alto sax: Chris Brubeck: bass; Randy Jones: drums; Stan Poplin: bass; Christian McBride: bass; Michael Moore: bass.
Title: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007 | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Monterey Jazz Festival Records
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