Remedy du Jour -- December 8, 2012

Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck passed away last week at the age of 91. Brubeck's famous quartet played a unique brand of West Coast or "cool" jazz during the 1950s and most of the 1960s. After Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Brubeck's Time Out (1959), which included the famous "hits" Take Five and Blue Rondo A La Turk, is probably the best known jazz album ever recorded. Brubeck's music was often seen as more accessible and culturally acceptable to white folks, although Brubeck himself never saw things that way. For me, the best part of his quartet was the great saxophonist Paul Desmond, who passed away in 1977. Desmond had a "sweet" kind of sound, and I don't say that in a disparaging way.

I'll play some selections from Brubeck's quartet with Desmond, and some other tunes by Desmond without Brubeck. This is good music. Enjoy.

• Blue Rondo A La Turk — live, Dave Brubeck Quartet
• Like Someone In Love — Dave Brubeck Quartet, a tribute to Paul Desmond
• In Your Own Sweet Way — live, Dave Brubeck Quartet
• Take Ten — Paul Desmond, 1963, from the album of the same name, with guitarist Jim Hall
• Samba D'Orpheus — Paul Desmond, not sure about the original album

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Sweaterman]

Dave -

Thanks from a west coast jazz fan. Luckily, I was able to see Mr. Brubeck play in beautiful Sedona a decade or so ago. What a wondrous sound!

[Oliver]

Listening to these tracks, it's hard to fathom why the world is the way it is in 2012.

When I leave on my spaceship, I think I'll take a recording of Like Someone In Love - just in case I encounter some other beings who try to assert that humans were 100% bad.