The Dave Brubeck Quartet – “1-2-3” – Time Out – Time Further Out – Time In – 3-CD Box

When the inimitable Dave Brubeck Quartet went into the studio in the summer of 1959, they created a timeless, monumental message in jazz. Nearly everyone, jazz fan or not, has heard the classic "Take Five", the only Paul Desmond composition on the album. It feautures teriffic solos from Desmond on his dreamy, wistful alto. Brubeck takes a backseat on this piece to allow drummer Joe Morello to play a stunning, brilliant solo. The remaining tracks on the album are equally strong. The driving, insistent rythym of "Blue Rondo A La Turk" nearly knocked me out of my chair at first listen. The magnificent "Strange Meadow Lark" is both Brubeck and Desmond at their definiitive best. The rest of the album is a sheer delight, untouched by the fourty years that have passed. DBQ didn't expect their seminal foray into exotic and rare time signatures to be a success. However, one note of one song on this album will tell you why that happened.

Personnel:

Dave Brubeck - Piano
Paul Desmond - Alto Saxophone
Gene Wright - Bass
Joe Morello – Drums

Tracklist:

01. Blue Rondo à la Turk
02. Strange Meadow Lark
03. Take Five
04. Three To Get Ready
05. Kathy's Waltz
06. Everybody's Jumpin'
07. Pick Up Sticks

Tracks 01 & 07 Recorded August 18, 1959
Tracks 02 & 03 Recrded July 1, 1959
Tracks 04, 05 & 06 Recorded June 25, 1959
All Tracks Recorded At 30th Street Columbia Studios

All Compositions By Dave Brubeck, Except "Take Five" By Paul Desmond
Produced By Teo Macero

Sound Quality: 9





This record is a sequel to the Dave Brubeck Quartet's top-selling "Time Out," which explored jazz in odd time signatures. "Time Further Out" continues that trend, but with a twist; all of these tunes utilize a twelve bar blues progression. The question: "How many different meters can a twelve bar blues be performed in?" The answer: "More than you could possibly imagine!"
The best known tune here is "It's a Raggy Waltz" which is in 3/4 with phrasings that give it a 2/4 feel ([1-2-1]-[2-1-2]-[1-2-3]-[1-2-3]). A few of the other tunes are blues progressions in 3/4 or 6/8 ("Bluette" and "Blue Shadow on Easy Street").
Brubeck also returns to the 5/4 made familiar by "Take Five," in "Far More Blues" and "Far More Drums" - both of which are the same tune, but the latter is a version with an extended and exciting Joe Morello drum solo. We also cover the 7/8 meter {1-2-1-2-1-2-3)in the quirky "Unsquare Dance." Those are just a few favorites.
For those who either aren't entirely versed in jazz or know little about time signatures, do not let that dissuade you from this CD. Brubeck and his quartet make these strange ideas extremely accessible and it has always amazed me at how Brubeck always seems to have one ear concentrating on how to break boundaries while the other is on commerciability. Though Brubeck might write in foreign time signatures (foreign even to many jazz buffs) or solo using strange polyrythms and stranger modes, he makes it sound like the most natural thing in the world. The experienced and unexperienced jazzer can listen and derive untellable satisfaction alike.

Personnel:

Dave Brubeck - Piano
Paul Desmond - Alto Saxophone
Gene Wright - Bass
Joe Morello – Drums

Tracklist:

01. It's A Raggy Waltz
02. Bluette
03. Charles Matthew Hallelujah
04. Far More Blue
05. Far More Drums
06. Maori Blues
07. Unsquare Dance
08. Bru's Boogie Woogie
09. Blue Shadows In The Street
10. Slow And Easy (a.k.a. Lawless Mike)
11. It's A Raggy Waltz (Live At Carnegie Hall)

Track 01 Recorded May 3, 1961 In NYC
Tracks 02 & 03 Recorded May 25, 1961 In NYC
Tracks 04 & 08 Recorded June 2, 1961 In NYC
Tracks 05, 06 & 07 Recorded June 8, 1961 In NYC
Track 09 Recorded May 12, 1961 In NYC
Track 10 Recorded May 25, 1961 In NYC
Track 11 Recorded Live, 1963 At Carnegie Hall In NYC

All Compositions By Dave Brubeck
Produced By Teo Macero

Sound Quality: 9





Though not as adventurous in time signature explorations as the other recordings the classic Brubeck Quartet made in their series of "Time" recordings, this album is nonetheless a sublime gem. On this session, one of the most cohesive groups in the history of jazz exalts in its ability to swing mightily while retaining an intimate, hushed atmosphere. Dave's compositions, while seemingly simple compared to earlier pieces like "Strange Meadowlark" and "Unsquare Dance", and the later "Crescent City Stomp", belie the group's deftness at negotiating the considerable challenge of transforming the simple to the sublime. On "Softly, William, Softly" and "Forty Days", two of Brubeck's most beautiful themes, Desmond carves out solos so perfect, each note so carefully chosen and executed, yet so bursting with pure spontaneity, that they stand alongside anything composed, edited and honed by the best of jazz composers. It sounds so effortless it's easy for a casual listener to either write it off as facile or assume it had been worked out in advance. Neither is true. What is true is that this is a beautiful, overlooked masterpiece.

Personnel:

Dave Brubeck - Piano
Paul Desmond - Alto Saxophone
Gene Wright - Bass
Joe Morello – Drums

Tracklist:

01. Lost Waltz
02. Softly, William, Softly
03. Time In
04. 40 Days
05. Travellin' Blues
06. He Done Her Wrong
07. Lonesome
08. Cassandra


Tracks 07 & 08 Recorded September 20, 1965 In NYC
Other Tracks Recorded October 13, 1965 In NYC

All Compositions By Dave Brubeck
Produced By Teo Macero

Sound Quality: 8/9