The music of the Dave Brubeck quartet formed the sound track of my teenage years much more than most pop music of the time. My introduction, courtesy of my school music master, was "Some day my Prince will come" from Dave Digs Disney. I went crazy over that track. Soon after that, Take Five was in the hit parade (as we used to quaintly call it). I suppose one might describe Paul Desmond's sound as "effete", but he could also play in a most exciting way in front of an audience. Brubeck used to smack the piano pretty hard in his early years but subsequently toned it down a lot.
Brubeck's playing was always inventive and I think the worst accusation laid against him was that he didn't really swing. That doesn't preclude my enjoyment of it. My favourite tracks include 'Perdido' from Jazz at Oberlin, 'Some day my Prince will come', 'Swanee River' and 'Lonesome Road' (both from Gone with the Wind),'Pick up sticks' (Time Out), 'It's a Raggy Waltz' (Time Further Out), and 'Pennies from Heaven' (Carnegie Hall 1963).
Brubeck's playing was always inventive and I think the worst accusation laid against him was that he didn't really swing. That doesn't preclude my enjoyment of it. My favourite tracks include 'Perdido' from Jazz at Oberlin, 'Some day my Prince will come', 'Swanee River' and 'Lonesome Road' (both from Gone with the Wind),'Pick up sticks' (Time Out), 'It's a Raggy Waltz' (Time Further Out), and 'Pennies from Heaven' (Carnegie Hall 1963).
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