Still inspired by the PBS series produced by Ken Burns, "Jazz" opened my mind to many different forms of this great music. Besides my appreciation of Miles Davis, I was very much interested in hearing more of pianist Dave Brubeck's music. The beauty of the Jazz series were the releases of many different greatest hit type of collections bearing Ken Burn's name. This way, the more casual or curious fan could sample a wide range of each artist's music, including Davis, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, and Dave Brubeck. Containing a generous offering of 15 tracks with over 75 minutes worth of music, I quickly grabbed the Brubeck collection.
Spanning Brubeck's career from the early 50's up until 1991, this cd does a nice job in showing off his work. The best way to describe this type of jazz would be "cocktail", or "night-club" setting jazz music. The piano is very hip and trendy, and there is plenty of alto saxophone to be heard. Think of Peanuts/Charlie Brown cartoons from your childhood. Brubeck's music is similar in style to Vince Guaraldi's music that was featured there. "In You Own Sweet Way" shows off Brubeck's "formula" quite well. Clocking in at over eight minutes, the smooth alto sax playing by Paul Desmond is accentuated well by Brubeck's classy piano progressions. The music isn't as "hard core" or mysterious as Miles Davis or Thelonious Monk, but this quartet definitely had their own style of jamming. "Blue Rondo A La Turk" is a very popular and familiar jazz song. I remember some early music classes from grade school in which "Blue Rondo" was used as an example of interesting time signitures. Regardless of the music theory, the songs interplay between piano, sax, and symbols is an uplifting example of Brubeck's cool style. Starting out somewhat "stiff" at first, the song loosens up into a nice cool groove half-way into the song. "Mr. Broadway", recorded here in 1974, is a quick and precise piece of modern jazz. The addition of electric piano here gives the tune a nice modern jazz effect. This proves that Brubeck was willing to experiment and grow with the changing times. "I Get a Kick Out of You" is the nicest surprise in this collection. The light touches of symbol and drums along with dueling solos of piano and saxophone make for amazing listening experience. Another nice surprise can be found on "The Real Ambassador". Louie Armstrong guest stars on vocals here, and the style is very much in line with Armstrong's which shows that Brubeck was able to adapt well to other performer's style. The premier song here, and arguably, the most popular and recognizable jazz song ever recorded is "Take Five". This is an almost essential piece of music for anyone's music collection. The song is powerful and uplifting. Written by saxophonist Paul Desmond and recorded in 1959, the song is years ahead of it's time. Based upon a very simple piano progression, the song leads into a bluesy and "swampy" saxophone solo. This is a beautiful and timeless piece of music that stands as Brubeck's signiture work for a very solid career.
For anyone who is looking for a hip and modern sounding jazz recording, this collection of Brubeck's work would probably satisfy many tastes. Brubeck and his quartet helped to pioneer jazz from the 1940's into the swinging 50's and 60's. His contribution to jazz should be appreciated by any music fan.
