Memories of Dave Brubeck

Me and Dave were nothing special together, as you would expect.  I am a fan; he's forever  the pro.  We never met or wrote; no surprise there.  I saw him only once in concert in Berkeley and have only a few of his albums, none rare or unusual, so far as I know.

Here's the list:

"Time Out." Both the Columia LP and the CD.   I dig (love) "Take Five," as who doesn't, but "Blue Rondo a la Turk," really grabs me.  Brubeck and Paul Desmond on alto sax were the greatest jazz collaboration since Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.

"Early Fantasies." LP 3-record album. Published by BOMC from the Fantasy label library.  37 riffs mostly on The Great American Song Book. This is no sing along, however. The octet, trio, quartet and four Brubeck solos.  From the late 40s and the '50s.

"Time In." LP single. Cut 15 years in, Columbia label, CS 9312, undated.  Eight Brubeck compositions/arrangements for the quartet: Brubeck, Desmond, Joe Morello, Eugene Wright.

"Blues Roots." LP single. Cut 17 years in, Columbia label, CS 9749, undated.  Quartet of Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Baritone Sax; Jack Six, Bass; Alan Dawson, drums. The album notes opine that all Brubeck's experimentation had a blues base, and I agree.

"Jazz Goes to College/ Jazz Goes to Junior College."  LP reissue of two singles.  Columbia label KG 31298 undated (but why?).  Brubeck started the college concert circuit.  Why, oh why, didn't he make it to my alma mater; Armstrong, Ellington and a host of lesser lights did?  No matter.  A friend's single of "Jazz Goes to College" was my introduction to the Brubeck sound: I never wrote to thank him.

Thoughts.  Sorrow that he's moved on to a keyboard in another appreciative world.  Regret that I didn't attend, play, buy and hear more.  Resolve to fix that while there's time and recordings.  Nostalgia for the days when jazz in all its forms reached everywhere.  Rage at the noise two generations and counting have called music.

Action. A promise to stomp every Beetle in range here and in the UK.

One album note has Brubeck saying he is a composer who also plays.  That pairs him in the pantheon with Ellington.  Nothing compares equally with the Ellington bands, but Brubeck's groups are right there with Armstrong, Goodman and the MJQ.   At its peak  his was the string quartet of jazz.