The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out - 1959
This, another of jazz's very well-known albums is an example of cool jazz and West Coast jazz, I am informed. I don't really know about these things, you see. Whatever, it has an enjoyable free feeling to it that renders it different in ambience to some other recordings from other jazz sub-genres (I'm thinking of the more improvised sound of "hard-bop" and "post-bop").
Blue Rondo A La Turk is a sumptuous merging of jaunty piano from Brubeck himself, rumbling bass and soaring saxophone, featuring several excellent soloing passages. Strange Meadow Lark begins with some lovely solo piano before we get some equally attractive soft saxophone. This is really nice stuff, melodic and relaxing.
Then we get the instantly recognisable and difficult to resist strains of piano, cymbals, drums and saxophone of the now iconic Take Five. It is possibly the most famous of all jazz tracks, and that includes anything by Miles Davis or John Coltrane. There is something very attractive and accessible about its rhythmic simplicity and easy-going melody that makes its crossover popularity so understandable - lots of people who don't like jazz like this. It certainly seduces part-time jazz dilettantes such as myself. Just check out the drum work about four minutes in, and then when the sweet sax arrives. Heavenly. There is something subtle and seductive about this music, albeit in a very bright late spring morning sort of way.
The cool breeze continues on Pick Up Sticks and the remainder of the album.
Of the three generally accepted jazz crossover classics - Miles Davis's A Kind Of Blue, John Coltrane's A Love Supreme and this, my vote goes for this, all day long.
This is like my only favorite jazz album. At least the instrumental kind. There's a couple singers I'll listen to their albums but I just could never get into jazz that much. It's got this hipster-ish smell about it that I fucking hate. But the earlier stuff like from the 20s or 30s I could listen to. Like I'd rather hear the earlier Billie Holiday when it was more that fun kind of jazz. This Dave Brubeck album is kind of in-between cuz it's real enjoyable but not too hipstery. I know there's more stuff that's similar but I never really heard too much of it. There's like one other jazz album that I enjoy all the way through and that's Donald Byrd Black Byrd and it's one of the only other ones that I ever had. It's just really cool even though it's kind of the modern stuff I don't like. I've just never heard a whole lot of jazz so there's probably more I would like if I actually heard it.
ReplyDeleteI don't pretend to know a huge lot about jazz. I like it as background music at times and the sound quality is invariably excellent.
DeleteI have reviewed Black Byrd, by the way.
Okay I read your review of Black Byrd and maybe the reason I liked it is because it really wasn't jazz but more like funk, like you said. Maybe that could be it. Not that I'm the biggest fan of funk, but it probably sounded more familiar to me than jazz. I should listen to his older stuff and see if I like that too. But I probably won't cuz it's all that Bop stuff I think.
ReplyDeleteMost of the jazz stuff I've liked is compilations of certain singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee, so I should probably listen to more of the instrumental stuff like at least all the big names.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, it's good for background music.
DeleteWhat I don't get with jazz is that it always seems ad hoc, made up as it is played, on the hoof, so how do they remember how it went next time they want to play a certain composition live?
I don't know how they do it. I guess you really just got to know what the f*** you're doing. Maybe it just sounds like they're making it up as it's played, but really it probably has a certain framework that they have to stay in or something. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteYes, I reckon you're right.
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