In the event that he reads this...

[dgillette]

...I would like to wish Dave Brubeck a happy 90th birthday on 12/6. He's still touring, and presumably still using those bizarre time signatures that only he can make work.

What's that you say? He doesn't read this? I thought everybody who is anybody does.

 

[BigH]

Wished he did - I became a fan early in life with his albums - It's a Raggy Waltz, Take Five, etc. Good material. (Time Out and Time Further Out).

 

[Ron]

A classic...too few of them left.

 

[fattdad]

+1 on Brubeck. Big fan from the early 70s and saw him back when. Own many of his albums - almost wore out by now.

Big fan also of Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond, the latter being the actual composer for "Take 5," which is often credited to Brubeck, as Desmond was in the group at the time (well and on the original recording).

f-d

¡papá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

 

[Mccoy]

90 years is not too shabby at all, Benny Carter the saxophonist used to play at that age.

Take 5 with Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck is a classic, one of the first tunes I used to hear when a kid.

Paul desmond's alto sounds really great

 

[jdonville]

Desmond's "Take Ten" includes a few nifty tracks - my personal fave from that album is the Theme from 'Black Orpheus', although they are all very good. Jim Hall is featured on the album, including the title track, which riffs on Take Five.

Time Out was probably my first jazz experience. All the tracks are little masterworks. My personal fave is Strange Meadow Lark, which alternates between 3/4 and 4/4 time. The opening track, Blue Rondo a la Turk is in 7/4!

I recently purchased Time Further Out, but have not taken the time to listen. Going to have to rectify that tonight.

J

 

[BigH]

jeff- you won' be disappointed. I inherited a whole bunch of his LPs - in storage - but concerts at various places . . He is an amazing pianist who, I doubt, has really received his true due

My first real jazz experience was a 39cent LP by Johnny Griffin on Emarcy Records called, if I remember correctly, "Night Lady." He plays Summertime and Scrabble on it. Has never come out on CD.

 

[dgillette]

"Black Orpheus"! I saw that in the late 70s, inspired by a reference to it on a Jerry Jeff Walker album cover, of all places. I remember it as a pretty cool movie. Wonder if I can find it on Amazon. See if it was as good as I vaguely recall, or if just I tried to like it to be hip, and in with the in crowd. (Anyone remember that song, ca/ 1964?: "I'm in with the in crowd..." and I sure can't remember the rest.

 

[Mccoy]

Black orpheus has become one of the standards in jazz, Mccoy Tyner, Kenny barron, Mulgrew Miller and almost everyone else have recorded or played it in concerts, everyone with his superb renditions. Stan Getz' recordings of it are a refernce.

A great tune anyway, like many other brazilian standards

dgillette, I believe you can find some clips of the original movie in youtube, I was curious about it as well

Blue rondo a la turk is exceptional, Dave Brubeck's experiments with uneven times have remained a benchmark, like his take 5, one of the first tunes my father, a former professional sax player, thought me at the piano.

 

[Mccoy]

I just checked, blue rondò a la turk is a 9/8 tempo (not so easy to follow it), whereas 'unsquare dance' is a 7/4.

Blue rondo is improvised on an even tempo, this is the original version with Paul Desmond, one of the best alto sax voices ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc34Uj8wlmE

Unsquare dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFqoPfP1KHc

Very characteristic tunes indeed!