Dave Brubeck Music

I have to disagree with the first reviewer. I'm actually listening with earphones as I type this and I can't hear the hiss. There is no question that the sound is not professional, and that may be why this concert has languished in some vault somewhere for so long. And so what?

In 1958 Brubeck was young and at the top of his game, and Desmond could still reel off amazing solos. The quartet spent much of that year on the road, and most of that music has been lost forever. That the Berlin concert has been salvaged is a small miracle, and let's hope that someone's vault will disgorge the English concert, the Italian, the Iraqi. And while we're at it, the Iranian and the Afghani.

Meanwhile what you have here is a 19-minute "Take the 'A' Train," a 16+ minute "Two Part Contention," and a "St. Louis Blues" that is unlike any other I've heard the quartet record.

Look, Brubeck's best work in the 1950s years was in the college and small club concerts. Nothing matches their brilliance, their invention, their playfulness. (And isn't it time for some major label to re-issue "Jazz Goes to Junior College"?) But the big concert hall gigs were a close second.

If there is a weakness here it is that Brubeck himself tends to be bombastic without always being inventive, except maybe on "St. Louis Blues." And Desmond can sometimes wander around in search of a groove. But listen to him on "Take the 'A' Train" and "St. Louis Blues" and you'll forgive all the rest.

This CD "Complete 58 Berlin Concert" has very poor sound quality.

Clearly printed on the CD cover is:
"The music on this CD comes from NON-PROFESSIONAL private tapes and its technical sound quality is not up to standards".
This truth about the poor sound quality was NOT mentioned in this products description.

Although this CD is useful for reference purposes,because it has historical value,dont expect to kick back and enjoy listening to it.
It's "MONO",not stereo.
There is a loud "HISS" throughout the entire CD.

Amazon failed to mention any of these facts in their product description of "Complete 1958 Berlin Concert".
Im seeking a refund on this CD.

This is my favorite live jazz recording, if not one of the best of all time! There is some mesmerizing playing on this album, including the remarkable drum solo on the last track by Randy Jones. "Benjamin" really flies, but on "Koto Song" Brubeck plays some really poignant, introspective solos. You don't know Dave Brubeck until you listen to this album, and feel like you were there on that summer night way back in 1982. The sound quality of this cd is amazing. Get this one!

I first had this album on vinyl when it came out in the mid 80s. At the time it was a high quality pressing and when it finally came out on CD my concern was that the glorious sound of the original would get lost in some engineer's idea of what live music should sound like.

Fortunately, I need not have worried, Concord did a great job in keeping the essence of the live performance on the CD.

This is a unique line-up for the Brubeck Quartet with Dave, Chris Brubeck on bass, Randy Jones on drums and Bill Smith on clarinet. That's right, I said clarinet. And it worked! You get the feeling that these four guys just like playing with one another. There's an easiness about the performance that only seems to happen when musicians are having a good time playing together.

The songs on this CD are all of good quality, but the killer is 'Softly William, Softly' that knocks the audience on its butt. This leads into the closing version of Take Five that has the audience out of their chairs.

Overall this is a 5 star performance and makes you wonder what it must have been like to be there on that magical Summer Night in Concord...

the improve and the musicans are incredible on this album. As soon as you here benjamin, it will be your favorite brubeck song....