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Dave Brubeck: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007
One of the paradoxes of jazz is that the individual is highly valued, yet iconoclasts are often undervalued, either by critics or audiences. Pianist Dave Brubeck has had no trouble attracting fans over more than half a century, but critics have been less embracing, often saying he doesn't swing.
Brubeck became wildly popular in the '50s, when his quartet with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond pioneered jazz concerts at colleges. Students then were familiar with classical music—music appreciation classes were still taught—so Brubeck's counterpoint and Bach references were familiar (more so than to the average jazz fan), while his hard-pounding piano and rhythms connected his sound to the R&B and early rock of the day. That quartet, with bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello, are represented here in its three dominant modes: the counterpoint of "Two Part Contention" (1958), personalizing a pop song on "Someday My Prince Will Come" (1962), and exploring odd time signatures on its jukebox hit, the 5/4 "Take Five" (1966).
Brubeck became wildly popular in the '50s, when his quartet with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond pioneered jazz concerts at colleges. Students then were familiar with classical music—music appreciation classes were still taught—so Brubeck's counterpoint and Bach references were familiar (more so than to the average jazz fan), while his hard-pounding piano and rhythms connected his sound to the R&B and early rock of the day. That quartet, with bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello, are represented here in its three dominant modes: the counterpoint of "Two Part Contention" (1958), personalizing a pop song on "Someday My Prince Will Come" (1962), and exploring odd time signatures on its jukebox hit, the 5/4 "Take Five" (1966).
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.
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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Dave Brubeck
CD/LP/Track Review
George Kanzler
Monterey Jazz Festival Records
United States
New York
New York City
Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007
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Jazz Story
By Connie Lansberg
Member since: 2010
As a songwriter and vocalist, I love jazz for the experience of being in the center of intense creativity. It is the most potent form of music for keeping the artist and the audience in the 'now”
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