Dave Brubeck Music

This Dave Brubeck Quartet CD "The 1965 Canadian Concert" is terrible.
Its MONO,not stereo.
There is very loud 'hissing" tape sound on the entire CD.
It was recorded using only one microphone!
It sounds like it was recorded by an audience member.
The "bonus materials" (KQED TV program from Janurary 14,1962) on track numbers 9,10,11,12 have a better sound quality than the other tracks,but are also recorded MONO and have a loud tape hissing sound throughout.

This terrible CD is useful for only reference,and not possible to listen and enjoy.

I am seeking a refund.
Amazon failed to mention any of this in the product description.

Paul Desmond died 2 years after this album came out, and it is a fitting goodbye. Take a listen to 'La Paloma Azul' and you will see what everyone is talking about when they describe his horn playing as like "a dry Martini". The albulm is a studio recording with Desmond on sax, and Brubeck on piano: that's it. But what a sound it is. (One of the tracks is a live recording taken from a Jazz Cruise around that time.) The music is as sweet and soulful and emotional as it gets. Enjoy!

When I heard this had finally been released on CD, I cried tears of joy. Dave Brubeck (G-d bless him) is still alive, healthy and active and this CD is as wonderful as anything he has ever done.

I remember the first time I heard anything from this, it was on the old NY jazz station WRVR. Although I was a Brubeck/Desmond fan, I did not recognize either of them as there was no bass or drums. When they announced it, I immediately bought the LP.

As brilliant as Paul Desmond was, there is no sax player in my knowledge that sounds anything like him. Like a Bill Evans, a Watrous, a Basie, all he has to play is one note and you know it is him. Nowhere is that more evident than in this CD.

Brubeck and Desmond shared a friendship for many years, going back to when Brubeck tried to join Desmond's band in the army. He has talked many times on how special it was and how fascinating it was to do duets with Paul. He talks about how hard he tried to "comp" behind Paul as it made Paul play that much better.

So you can feel the fun these two great men had in doing this.

The best cut, IMHO, is the final one, "You Go To My Head". That was the whole start of the project, they wound up doing a set of duets on a cruise. This cut is a recording from that cruise.

Do NOT listen to this CD as background music or while doing something else. You will miss the subtleties of it. Do listen to it, preferably on good headphones with the rest of the world locked out.

I absolutely LOVE Brubeck and Desmond, but this record leaves a LOT to be desired. While the playing is pretty great, as you'd expect, the fact that the piano wasn't tuned for the studio cuts is unforgivable. The way Desmond's sax was miked makes him sound way too "airy" and leaky, like his embouchure was disintegrating, which I'm sure it wasn't! The live recording on board the Rotterdam is superior to the studio tracks, and both Paul and Dave are truly in their element on this last song, with Dave REALLY hitting his stride, in his own inimitable way, but this one track doesn't make up for the rest.

The correct track listings for this item are as follows:

1. There'll Be Some Changes Made
2. My Melancholy Baby
3. Blues In The Dark
4. I Never Knew (I Could Love Anyone Like I'm Loving You)
5. Ain't Misbehavin'
6. Evenin'
7. All By Myself
8. River, Stay 'Way From My Door
9. You Can Depend On Me
10. Am I Blue?
11. Shine On Harvest Moon