Dave Brubeck Music

The highlight of this album is a 13 + minute jam session with Dave and Chris Brubeck and Bill Smith, so we have a rare Brubeck Quartet featuring B. B. King. The cut was recorded Jan 1983 in Cannes, France and has appeared on 5 or 6 compilations including 3 B.B. albums, and none of Dave's. The King must have liked it ;-)

I'd say the purchase price is worth it for that track alone authored by Dave and which takes up close to 1/4 the album time for the 8 tracks.

Dave Brubeck was on contract to Columbia in the 60s. QED this is a 1996 Delta reissue of a LaserLight 1989 reissue (albeit with two bonus tracks from the mid 70s when his kids were traveling extensively with him) of a 1961 Europa Jazz LP. If anyone has actually listened to Castilian Drums on the album "Time Further Out," they would know the mispelled lead track is not it. In reality this is "Cassandra" which can also be heard on "London Flat, London Sharp" in addition to others. At least Europa did the spelling correctly if the track name incorrectly.

Europa/LaserLight/Delta's 5th track, "Summer Song," which can be heard on half a dozen Brubeck albums is actually "Softly, William, Softly" which can be heard on Brubeck's Time In. Rip-offs tend to copy each other rather than doing their own legwork. It has been stated elsewhere that the origins of this album are a personal recorder at ringside. I must admit to having done this at a Moody Blues concert back in the day. If you remember the quality of recorders from the 60s you would say with me...not. That being said, the final two tracks with Darius, Chris and Dan do not have the same fidelity. More likely this is a bootleg of unknown (Dave probably knows) complicity.

All aside...I love this album featuring some dynamite performances, though the piano could have used a better tuning, starring:

Dave Brubeck (piano)
Paul Desmond (alto sax)
Eugene Wright (bass)
Joe Morello (drums)
Darius, Dan and Chris Brubeck on tracks 7-8 + Bill Smith (clarinet track 8)

Revised Track list

Cassandra
Three to get Ready
St Louis Blues
Forty Days
Softly, William, Softly
Some Day My Prince Will Come
Brandenburg Gate
In Your Own Sweet Way

There is a lot of talent packed into this CD. That is especially true of Lisa LaCross. Her music is the best of the bunch.

For more of Lisa LaCross, check out her new CD "Gifts of Love" with violinist Bruce Wethey. An amazing duo and an excellent CD.

I highly recommend this CD and Gifts of Love!

This is a fun cd so if you collect flute recordings, pick it up. I'm curious about other Yamaha Artist Series cds as well.

I am Bruce Wethey, the composer of two of the songs. The song title is listed incorrectly under the first song list. The title should be "The Way I Feel About You" in both song listings. Please correct it. Thank you.

Most of this CD is satisfactory; however the 2nd movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto has an error. Only 11 seconds are recorded on this album; it really is supposed to be several minutes long.

(Evidently no one believes me! Well, anyway, check it out on other recordings. Here is one that comes highly recommended by people who know more than I do: Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1, 2, 3 - Overture - Orchestral Suite BWV 1066.)

Naxos has made an error here, and hopefully they'll fix it and re-release this.

But you're almost certainly not shopping for Bach's 3rd Brandenburg Concerto, which is available in many different recordings.

You're here for the Brubeck. And it's fine, just fine. I really enjoy the piece. I'm a big fan of the cello.

I would recommend this recording to any lover of the Cello.
It was magnificent.

According to Naxos.com, track 10 on this CD is the (extremely short) second movement of Brandenburg's 3rd Concerto, which does in fact only last 11 seconds. Therefore nothing is missing on this CD. I was one of the twenty cellos on it, so I should know!! I give it four stars because I am not a huge fan of the Brubeck pieces, but I think the cello playing is great of course!

This is one my favourite Brubeck albums ;all the tunes are excellent ; the quartet is in top form .
Brubeck blends jazz and classical music amazingly.People want him to swing but they're talking to the wrong man ; Brubeck is from a classical background ( learning from people like DARIUS MILHAUD )
so it's natural that he has a tendency towards classical music and no one
mixed classical music and jazz quiet as brubeck did.
Turn the lights off and listen to this jazz symphony.

Classical and jazz can be mixed--he just didn't do it right here. All you get in the title track is the same theme and changes, repeated over and over for nearly 20 minutes. The thing just "changes clothes" in terms of arrangement each run-through. Even at that, I'm not sure that orchestral arrangements necessarily add up to classical/ jazz fusion--look at Henry Mancini, for example. Maybe Brubeck hadn't developed his version of it by this album's creation in 1959--he was to do much better five years later in 1964's "Time Changes", with the 18-minute "Elementals" (is that thing out of print? I can't find it here). And in my opinion, Chuck Mangione really perfected the concept in 1971 with his live "Friends & Love" album, joined by the Rochester NY Philharmonic Orchestra. Rayburn Wright of that very same orchestra had helped Brubeck arrange "Elementals" in '64. Coincidence? Perhaps not. Maybe this album simply lacks balance--the orchestral format continues into the short pieces further along in this album, while "Time Changes" starts out in quartet format--then it gives you "Elementals" as a grand finale. But this album at times verges on Muzak in the same way Miles Davis' Gil Evans series tends to do. I guess it takes some doing to drag in a symphony orchestra without making your music soporific. Brubeck didn't quite succeed in dodging that pitfall in this, his freshman effort in symphonia.

I bought this record on vinyl when it first came out. I found it again recently in my parents' attic. I took it home, and put it on my aging turntable again--and remembered why I didn't take it with me the first time when I left the house year's ago.

Seems many, it not all jazz musicians (up through at least the '60's) felt the need to "legitimize" their work by playing in front of a full concert orchestra--or in the case of the immortal Duke, even composing for one.

I like classical music. I like jazz. I also like orange juice and milk. But with music, as with beverages, I don't like the mixture.

This album does not swing. It may lull you to sleep.

I love every tune on this album--but not the versions on the album. The later versions are lush and phony--sounding like bad hollywood sound tracks, at best.

The most telling example of degeneracy is the title piece, 'Brandenburg Gate,' first recorded on 'Jazz Impressions of Eurasia.' (A stupendous album, by the way.) Originally concieived as a Bach-like composition, both contrapuntal and polyphonic in form and execution, it is a masterpiece of integrating 18th century elements and reconceiving them in swing. And just like a great Bach keyboard work, it is spare and crisp--nothing wasted, yet nothing missing.

Now, however, the same piece orchestrated in the style of Holly Ridge Strings loses every smidgeon of grace. The real "classic" elements of the original composition--the 18th century form, feeling, and intellectual tone--are subverted by a string arrangement that owes nothing to Bach and much to muzak.

Don't buy this CD unless you are, like me, a fan, and would listen to anything DBQ ever did--even if it were awful.

This is usually one of the first albums I reach for when I am looking for a smooth-over: the very first phrases of the first track are like a great big sigh, and it draws you into a fully engaging CD of classical and jazz. I notice this isn't one of Amazon's essential Brubeck recordings - his body of work must be stellar!

After 35 years of having been stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army where I first heard this Album, it is finally available on CD! The music perfectly captures the mood, feeling, and hope, and tragedy of the German people and the Berlin Wall. The songs weave back and forth from classical to jazz, and it is Brubeck's most beautiful music........just shut your eyes and take yourself back to Berlin and the Wall. Even it you don't like jazz, you will be caught up in this recording. A MASTERPIECE AND ALBUM FOR THE AGES !

Amazon's editorial review is an excellent introduction to this powerful recording. Additionally, Neil H. Levin states in the liner notes: "Dave Brubeck has always maintained that he wrote . . . THE GATES OF JUSTICE (1969) to bring together - and back together - the Jewish people and American blacks." Brubeck writes, "When I began exploring the music, I was thrilled to hear the similarities among Hebraic chant and spirituals and blues." Therefore, a cantor usually sings the tenor role and an African American the baritone role. And it would be hard to find any singers better suited to these roles than Cantor Alberto Mizrahi and bass baritone Kevin Deas on this recording.

Being an alumnus of several excellent choral groups, when listening to a new work I usually ask myself whether or not I would want to sing that particular piece of music. In this case the answer was an immediate "yes, definitely yes!" Not only is this an incredibly exciting piece of music, but one that also cries out for justice and an end to hatred and hostility.

Mr. Brubeck writes, "The deeper my involvement in the composition, the more apparent it became that I was no longer thinking in terms of social justice, as evidenced in the histories of Jews and American blacks. Rather, through their unquenchable will to survive and to be free, I had been led inevitably to the more basic problem of man (universal and individual), his relationship to other men, and ultimately to God."

GATES OF JUSTICE is not only powerful and exciting, it is also an important political and social statement for our times. One of the eternal religious obligations in Judaism is found in the admonition "Justice, justice you shall pursue"; and a bumper sticker of old reads, "If you want peace, then work for justice." Brubeck writes: "And when men have fulfilled their obligations to each other, they will no longer need to ask: 'Where is justice? Where is God?' It will be self-evident: 'HERE I AM!'"

My nomination for a 2004 Grammy. I hope you are as moved by GATES OF JUSTICE as I.

In 1996 or 1997, I was invited to see Mr. Brubeck's performance of 'The Gates of Justice' at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Music has always had the ability to move me deeply. As a musician, I was drawn to musicianship but more importantly, passion in the work.
By no means am I an aficionado of choral music but witnessing that performance on that summer evening changed me. I am also not a religious person, I tend to congratulate man for his accomplishments. Therefore, I decided to write Mr. Brubeck and convey my appreciation for what his performance meant to me. In particular, I noticed that the performance was being recorded by the university and I was interested in obtaining a copy being that his album was out of print. To my surprise, Mr. Brubeck told me that he did not have a copy of that work. According to him, that tumultuous period (the 1960's)produced many works that were either recorded or performed and forgotten about or lost.
So, from time to time I would do a search on Amazon to see if one was available and today, as I was listening to Yes' 'The Gates of Delirium', I thought to give it another try. So here it is!
Listening to the samples on the site I must admit, the live performance grabs the listener much more than the studio takes. To see the choir, the percussionists, the strings and horns, soloists and finally, Mr. Brubecks trio charge out of a crescendo was earth-shattering.
If a live performance does exist, I'd love to own it. If however, this is the best I can find, I'll take it.

This is a master work! It's amazing to me to think of Brubeck, as pivotal as he was in jazz, writing this amazing work for strings. I bought this album in Berkeley on a fluke...I was passing by, and actually the Brodsky Quartet is what caught my eye at first, since they contributed so magically to Elvis Costello's album, The Juliet Letters back in the early 90's. My viola instructor at the time commented how "tight" they were, how inventive. I was struck immediately by their firey tone. Back to Brubeck...this is a chromatic fantasy! Chromatic meaning in half-steps. Very taxing on the ears unless you are stimulant-ready...which I usually am. I tried contacting the publishing company on the liner notes immediately after my first listen through to see if Mr. Brubeck would give over the rights for another string quartet to work on this piece (my string quartet, of course!). Apparently, the Brodsky Quartet either commissioned the work, or Brubeck wrote it specifically for them...so no avail for me & my group. I still love this album though...for the musician, especially string quartet lovers, and or appreciators, this is the album for you. Plus it's got Stravinsky & Weill string ensembles on it...you can't go wrong!!

Why Columbia continues to dicontinue fantastic albums such as "Buried Treasures" is beyond me and something I will never understand. They like to create demand, but honestly this doesn't do anything but anger the record buying public. A Dave Brubeck Quartet album should never be in demand, it should be a staple of the record company, because this group was immensely popular not only amongst jazz fans, but people who didn't necessarily dig jazz. When will Columbia learn that creating demand doesn't do anything but hurt them and their reputation, but the sad reality is they don't care, jazz has always been treated unfairly when it came to promoting and sales. There are still an inordinate number of people who still listen to jazz and hold it in high regard, one of them is me.

Getting off my soapbox, if you manage to find a copy of "Buried Treasures," then you are in for a great surprise. Swinging, lyrical, and the fanastic Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. You couldn't ask for a better saxophonist than Desmond. That gorgeous tone and flowing improvisations are what made the DBQ so unique.

This 1967 (the same year Brubeck broke up this classic quartet) live album is one their best. The whole quartet is fire and the improvisations are outstanding. The sound quality is also very clean and sounds great.

I highly recommend this relatively unknown album to fans of this quartet.

What hasn't been said aboutDave Brubeck? Look at this guy, he'll be older than George Burns if he retires. But Dave loves the music and playing before live audiences! If I could only have one set of cd's of one artist, it would be Dave Brubeck! You don't need any other music. I have all his albums. What a musician, his music spans generations and all themes. Much better than Jamal or Ellington or Earl garner. Dave Brubeck is the best Jazz player in this century and the last, bar none. George Jones

Who was the idiot that left these recordings in the vault all these years? Music as great and universal as this needs to be out there for people to feed their souls on. Better late than never though and this companion concert to the one that produced the 'Bravo' Mexican-themed record is a revelation. In terms of performance and especially in terms of sound it is a better night than 'Bravo' which was one hell of an inspired performace in its own right. The band comes out smoking on an awesome version of 'Mr. Broadway' (Brubeck's ode to 'Detective Series')and doesn't let up until a fabulously varied version of 'St.Louis Blues' at the very end. There are two 5/4 metered tracks performed, the magnificent 'Forty Days' and a drum-solo-less version of 'Take 5' where Desomond gets to stretch in interesting directions. Everyone needs to have a copy of this record, and especially people who hate jazz or think they hate jazz, because it is nearly impossible not to be moved by it. This era is long gone, but Brubeck's classic quartet with Desmond, the epitome of 'American International Cool Jazz,' is still the group that turns most people on to the glories of Jazz without in any way having watered itself down or compromised. They are simply upbeat and non-cynical in an infectious way, and you cannot hold that against them as true artists; they are never mawkish or cloying and they absolutely refuse to pander.

This recording is excellent. This record, unlike so many jazz recordings of this era bristles with energy, yet avoids self-indulgence. The talent of these players was at its peak when this was recorded and along with "Bravo Brubeck" are must- haves. It will make you want a better stereo.

When I reviewed the track titles I was hesitant in purchasing "Buried Treasures" as I already owned several renditions of several tracks. However, let me encourage you to buy this recording. There is an excellent "concert" atmosphere and Brubeck and Desmond are in excellent form - especially on St Louis; Take Five and Broadway. These tracks especially contain the essence and brilliance of the Brubeck Quartet.