My wife is not a big fan of jazz, so I don’t
get to listen to it much whole she’s around. She likes music with a
hook, a simple melody, a reliable rhythm, and an element of comfortable
predictability. If you step outside of those bounds in
an effort to express your musical individuality, she’s not going to
want to listen. Here’s a jazz album I think I can get her to sit down
to. And it’s a doozy!
https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD00013431419822
Dave Brubeck’s jazz has all of the above attributes, yet somehow
manages to “civilize” them into an accessible form. Take his best-known
song “Take Five”. It has no obvious hook, a melody in 5/4 time,
modulations of the beat pattern within extended 5/4 phrases, and
extended improvisational solo workouts, yet somehow it is imbued with an
easy-to-follow, easy-to-absorb character that is a pre-requisite of
“popular” music in its many forms. Indeed, this this is a pretty fair
description of most of Brubeck’s work.
Perhaps one of the
aspects of Dave Brubeck is that, while his bands employ musicians of the
highest virtuosic quality, virtuosity is never
allowed to intrude on the compositions. Brubeck's recordings are always
expressions of the music, and never of the musicians. In Concord On A
Summer Night, this becomes especially evident on the ubiquitous Take
Five, where Brubeck’s piano playing at one point soars with an
orchestral majesty that very few pianists ever deliver, and yet by that
time the listener is so absorbed in the music that the virtuosity is
just not the focal element – the majestic exposition of the melody just
carries you away with it.
Concord On A Summer Night is one of
the finest live jazz recordings ever made. One of these rare events
when a magical performance is captured in a magical recording. It was
recorded in Brubeck’s home town, Concord, CA, in 1982, and among other
things is notable for inclusion of a clarinet instead of the usual
saxophone. Brubeck was born in Concord in 1920, and his mother was a
some-time concert pianist and piano teacher. Dave had two older
brothers who were active musicians, and it was felt that Dave should go
into a career as a veterinarian. At college he was persuaded to switch
to music, but even so was nearly expelled when –incredibly – it was
discovered that, despite his evident talents, he could not read music!
Happily, Concord On A Summer Night is available as an absolutely superb
high-resolution recording from HD Tracks, although, to be fair, the CD
version is not too shabby either. Either way, it is that rare bird – an
album that both hard-core jazz fanatics, and those who really don’t
like jazz, can agree upon. One of these nights, when she’s not
expecting it, I will play it for my wife!
