account
basket
Challenge Records Int. logo
Debut In The Netherlands 1958

Dave Brubeck Quartet

Debut In The Netherlands 1958

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: The Lost Recordings
UPC: 0196587824228
Catnr: TLR 2204043
Release date: 12 December 2022
Buy
1 CD
✓ in stock
€ 19.95
Buy
 
Label
The Lost Recordings
UPC
0196587824228
Catalogue number
TLR 2204043
Release date
12 December 2022

"... It became an event, now unearthed and remastered in present mono. Russia had Sputnik, but no jazz!"

Stereoplay, 22-3-2023
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
Press
EN
DE

About the album

With the support of the American State Department, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, including new members Joe Morello and Eugene Wright, began a major tour of Europe early in 1958. Their first concert in the Netherlands was held on 26 February in the legendary Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam, usually reserved for performances of classical music. Since 1951 and the collaboration between Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, the band had gained a stunning reputation. In 1954, Dave Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time magazine. Rumor has it that Duke Ellington knocked on Brubeck’s hotel door to congratulate him. Brubeck is said to have responded, “It should have been you.” He dedicated one of his most famous pieces, “The Duke”, included on this album, to his fellow pianist.

That winter evening of 1958, the four American musicians, all in their late thirties, took the stage of the Concertgebouw.

Picture the packed auditorium murmuring expectantly, and four musicians overcome with stage fright yet eager to perform. After some timid applause, Desmond kicked off with the melancholy, sophisticated theme of “Two Part Contention”. The piano came in, sounding out a counter-melody that revealed Brubeck’s classical training and knowledge of counterpoint, acquired when he studied under Milhaud and Schoenberg. He had an inventiveness that was not only melodic but also rhythmic, and he knew how to win over an audience. This was followed by a Disney piece, “Someday, My Prince Will Come” introduced by the piano, three years before the great Miles Davis brought out his eponymous album. They continued with a 1930s standard, “These Foolish Things”, by Jack Strachey, a song that had helped make Ella Fitzgerald famous. Paul led the show in his flowing, ethereal style, with sporadic brassy, dissonant contrasts, proving – if proof were needed – his consummate skills in harmonic phrasing. The saxophone then announced the theme of “One Moment Worth Years”. Eugene, who liked to be called “the Senator”, seemed to lead the private dialogue with an unseen hand, dexterous and sensitive. In the same vein, they led on with “For All We Know” – to thunderous applause. It was now Joe’s turn to take the limelight. When he played “Watusi Drums”, the audience discovered an exceptional drummer who had started out as a virtuoso violinist: fifteen years previously, he had been playing Mendelssohn’s Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. After hearing Jascha Heifetz, he decided he could never reach the maestro’s heights and switched to drums. The band went on to play “The Wright Groove”, a short piece written by Eugene. The concert concluded with “The Duke”, a tribute to Ellington, and then a superb rendition of “Take the A-Train”, a 1940s classic and the hallmark piece of Ellington’s orchestra, played here in a whirlwind of energy and innovative rhythms.

Sadly, the original tape comes to a halt before the end of this piece could be recorded. Nevertheless, we have chosen to retain the surviving part to bear witness to the groundbreaking creativity then bubbling under the surface in this exceptional quartet’s timeless art.

The concert inaugurated a triumphant career in Europe. It announced, loud and clear, the communicative enthusiasm that was the lasting hallmark of these four exceptional musicians.
Mit Unterstützung des amerikanischen Außenministeriums begann das Dave Brubeck Quartet, zu dem auch die neuen Mitglieder Joe Morello und Eugene Wright gehörten, Anfang 1958 eine große Europatournee. Ihr erstes Konzert in den Niederlanden fand am 26. Februar in der legendären Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam statt, die normalerweise für Aufführungen klassischer Musik reserviert ist. Seit 1951 und der Zusammenarbeit zwischen Dave Brubeck und Paul Desmond hatte sich die Band einen umwerfenden Ruf erworben. Im Jahr 1954 war Dave Brubeck auf der Titelseite des Time Magazine zu sehen. Man munkelt, dass Duke Ellington an Brubecks Hoteltür klopfte, um ihm zu gratulieren. Brubeck soll geantwortet haben: "Das hättest du sein sollen". Eines seiner berühmtesten Stücke, "The Duke", das auf diesem Album enthalten ist, widmete er seinem Pianistenkollegen.

An jenem Winterabend des Jahres 1958 betraten die vier amerikanischen Musiker, alle Ende dreißig, die Bühne des Concertgebouw.

Stellen Sie sich das erwartungsvolle Gemurmel im vollbesetzten Saal vor, und vier Musiker, die von Lampenfieber geplagt sind, aber dennoch unbedingt auftreten wollen. Nach zaghaftem Applaus begann Desmond mit dem melancholischen, anspruchsvollen Thema von "Two Part Contention". Das Klavier setzte ein und ließ eine Gegenmelodie erklingen, die Brubecks klassische Ausbildung und seine Kenntnisse des Kontrapunkts verriet, die er während seines Studiums bei Milhaud und Schönberg erworben hatte. Er verfügte über einen Erfindungsreichtum, der sich nicht nur auf die Melodie, sondern auch auf den Rhythmus bezog, und er wusste, wie man ein Publikum für sich gewinnt. Es folgte ein Disney-Stück, "Someday, My Prince Will Come", das vom Klavier eingeleitet wurde, drei Jahre bevor der große Miles Davis sein gleichnamiges Album herausbrachte. Weiter ging es mit einem Standard aus den 1930er Jahren, "These Foolish Things", von Jack Strachey, einem Lied, das Ella Fitzgerald berühmt gemacht hatte. Paul führte die Show in seinem fließenden, ätherischen Stil an, mit sporadischen, dissonanten Kontrasten, die - falls es noch eines Beweises bedurfte - seine vollendeten Fähigkeiten in der harmonischen Phrasierung unter Beweis stellten. Das Saxophon kündigte dann das Thema "One Moment Worth Years" an. Eugene, der sich gerne "der Senator" nennen ließ, schien den privaten Dialog mit unsichtbarer Hand zu führen, geschickt und sensibel. In diesem Sinne setzten sie mit "For All We Know" fort - unter tosendem Beifall. Nun war Joe an der Reihe, das Rampenlicht zu übernehmen. Als er "Watusi Drums" spielte, entdeckte das Publikum einen außergewöhnlichen Schlagzeuger, der als Geigenvirtuose begonnen hatte: Fünfzehn Jahre zuvor hatte er Mendelssohns Konzert mit dem Boston Symphony Orchestra gespielt. Nachdem er Jascha Heifetz gehört hatte, beschloss er, dass er niemals an die Größe des Maestros herankommen würde, und wechselte zum Schlagzeug. Die Band spielte anschließend "The Wright Groove", ein kurzes Stück aus Eugenes Feder. Das Konzert endete mit "The Duke", einer Hommage an Ellington, und einer großartigen Interpretation von "Take the A-Train", einem Klassiker aus den 1940er Jahren und dem Markenzeichen von Ellingtons Orchester, das hier in einem Wirbelwind aus Energie und innovativen Rhythmen gespielt wurde.

Leider ist das Originalband zum Stillstand gekommen, bevor das Ende dieses Stücks aufgenommen werden konnte. Dennoch haben wir uns entschieden, den überlebenden Teil aufzubewahren, um die bahnbrechende Kreativität zu bezeugen, die damals unter der Oberfläche der zeitlosen Kunst dieses außergewöhnlichen Quartetts brodelte.

Das Konzert bildete den Auftakt zu einer triumphalen Karriere in Europa. Es verkündete laut und deutlich den kommunikativen Enthusiasmus, der das bleibende Markenzeichen dieser vier Ausnahmemusiker war.

Artist(s)

Dave Brubeck (piano)

Paul Desmond (saxophone)

Joe Morello (drums)

Eugene Wright (double bass)

Composer(s)

Dave Brubeck (piano)

Press

... It became an event, now unearthed and remastered in present mono. Russia had Sputnik, but no jazz!
Stereoplay, 22-3-2023

... the communication between band and audience works without any problems, even if the Dave Brubeck Quartet makes high demands with the subtleties of its arrangements, with their tendency to waltz bars and contrapuntal melody lines...
Jazzthing, 13-2-2023

You can hear that the pianist has a classical background, but there is certainly swing. And saxophonist Paul Desmond's cool playing is beautiful
Het Parool, 05-1-2023

... these Lost Recordings contain no new insights into Brubeck's oeuvre....
Jazzpodium, 01-6-2023

And indeed, sometimes the pianist moves in a somewhat gnarled way against the current. But he could also give sharp (and sometimes contrapuntal) counterplay to Desmond, (...)
Jazzism, 17-3-2023

... Elegant, emotional, cool, discreetly swinging, a very sensitive rhythm team, this is jazz of the highest quality, and in very good sound quality...
Musikansich, 28-2-2023

... This music, played in this lineup, will always please us.
Jazzfun, 17-2-2023

... Harmonically and rhythmically as if grown together, Paul Desmond and his tone mild even in dissonances, Brubeck flashing his classical training on the piano and the rhythm section holding the whole thing together sure-footedly and deservedly getting their solo interlude. Excellently restored ...
Nadann, 10-2-2023

This is a welcome addition to the Brubeck discography and one that comes out, in retrospect, as way above his more lauded albums.
Bebop Spoken Here, 26-1-2023

A valuable, well recorded album detailing a performance of the quartet as it began its most fruitful period.
Jazz Views, 19-1-2023

This Dutch debut is not only a nice addition to the discographies of Brubeck and Desmond, but also represents an essential piece of Dutch jazz history.
Jazzenzo, 18-1-2023

Play album Play album

Often bought together with..

Live in Scheveningen 1958
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

You might also like..

Ludwig van Beethoven
Middle String Quartets
Narratio Quartet
Various composers
Italophilia - Discovering the Italian Style in Handel's London
The Counterpoints
Butter Bei Die Fische | JazzThing Next Generation Vol. 105
Red Hering
Underground Roller Coaster
Diego Pinera | Odd Wisdom
Francesco Geminiani
Sonatas for violoncello
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde
As if it were tomorrow
Pentadox
Brasis · Sonho de Lá
Henrique Gomide | Daphne Oltheten
Waiting for a Summer Storm
Ramon van Merkenstein Trio
Waiting for a Summer Storm (vinyl)
Ramon van Merkenstein Trio
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concertos Nos. 21 & 9 | Rondo for Piano and Orchestra
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra | Dejan Lazić | Jan Willem de Vriend
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonatas Op. 2
Roberto Prosseda
Various composers
Srikandi
Duo Saraswati