... 7-inch, Vinyl record

With Paul Desmond on alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Bravo Brubeck, indeed – as this great live set not only has the Brubeck quartet in Mexico, working through some surprising Latin-themed tunes – but also includes some added percussion and guitar, which brings a whole new dimension to their sound! The album's still got the core Brubeck approach at its heart – with Dave on piano, Paul Desmond on incredible alto sax, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello on drums – but the quartet finds a way to really open up on these numbers, and expand their sound into new modes – as they'd done on some of their Japanese and Eurasian explorations. A number of tunes are Latin American numbers, re-arranged in a modern way by Brubeck – and titles include "Cielito Lindo", "Sobre Las Olas", "Nostalgia De Mexico", "Poinciana", "Estrellita", and "Alla En El Rancho Grande". CD also includes the previously unreleased track "Frenesi". CD

Solo recordings of original compositions for piano, with titles including "Swing Bells", "Walkin' Line", "Two-Part Contention", "Weep No More", "When I Was Young", and more. CD

Loads of classics from the Columbia years! LP, Vinyl record album

11 of Brubeck's greatest, including "Time Out", "I'm In A Dancing Mood", "Bossa Nova USA", "Blue Rondo A La Turk", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing work from the young Dave Brubeck – tunes that are definitely distinctive, given his fresh modern approach to the music! The group's an octet, with Paul Desmond on alto – and titles include Brubeck arrangements of "Let's Fall In Love", "Love Walked In", "The Way You Look Tonight", and "September In The Rain" – plus group originals "Ipca" and "Prelude & Fugue On Bop Themes". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes 31 tracks, mostly from Brubeck's classic Columbia recordings with Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright, and Joe Morello. CD

A sweet live set from Dave Brubeck's early years on Columbia Records – recorded in New York, but with all the calculated cool and modern tones Brubeck first forged in the San Francisco scene of the 50s! Paul Desmond's on board on alto sax – really getting a lot of space to stretch out on the album's extended performances, with a haunting, floating tone that really sends us. Remaining members include Bob Bates on bass, and Joe Dodge on drums – and tracks include "Lover", "Love Walked In", "The Duke", "Little Girl Blue", and "Fare Thee Well Annabelle". LP, Vinyl record album

Dave Brubeck on solo piano. CD

With Paul Desmond (alto sax), Bull Ruther (bass), and Herb Barman (drums). 78 RPM, Vinyl record

A quartet date with Bill Smith on clarinet, Chris Brubeck on electric bass, Randy Jones on drums and Russell Gloyd conducting the Montreal International Jazz Festival Orchestra. Tracks include "Summer Music", "Koto Song", "Lullaby", "Take The A Train" and "New Wine". CD

Dave Brubeck on piano, Bill Smith on clarinet, Jack Six on bass, and Randy Jones on drums. CD

With Jerry Bergonzi on tenor, Chris Brubeck on bass, and Randy Jones on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond double header – two vintage albums in a single package! Stardust is great stuff from the early days of the Brubeck/Desmond alliance – when Dave's piano had first met up with Paul's alto, with incredible results that would soon transform the face of popular jazz. The set's mostly standards – but it does include 2 strong originals, "Crazy Chris" and "Lyons Busy", as well as some Brubeck-ized versions of tunes like "Frenesi", "Mamselle", and "At A Perfume Counter". Dave Brubeck Quartet is sublime early work from pianist Dave Brubeck – already recording here with the amazing Paul Desmond on alto sax – in the kind of magical blend that would bring both players great fame by the end of the 50s! Even at this early point, the subtle modern touches are perfectly in place – that blend of space, sound, color, and tone that made the Brubeck/Desmond team so unique – recorded here without any other gimmicks or trappings to get in the way. The set mostly features shorter versions of standards – including "Stardust", "Just One Of Those Things", "Alice In Wonderland", and "All The Things You Are" – but it also features an amazing 14 minute take on "At A Perfume Counter", with really extended solo lines from Desmond! CD

A later live recording from Montreux – with Dave on piano, Chris Brubeck on bass, Bill Smith on clarinet, and Randy Jones on drums. CD

Easily the crowning moment of genius for the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet – the moment when all things came together magically, and the group somehow elevated themselves to a whole new level in jazz! At the time of the set, Brubeck, Paul Desmond, and the rest had already been making plenty of waves with their creative yet swinging approaches to modern jazz – heard on a number of successful albums for Fantasy and Columbia in the 50s. But with this record, they really knocked one out of the park – blending Desmond's cool alto, Brubeck's unusual piano phrasing, Joe Morello's melodic drum work, and Eugene Wright's pulsating bass into a waltzing, almost modal groove that crossed over to many camps at the time! The classics "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo Ala Turk" were both hits on their own – but all titles are great, and include "Kathy's Waltz", "Strange Medow Lark", "Everybody's Jumpin", and "Pick Up Sticks". CD

Rare material from the sessions for one of the greatest jazz albums ever – the legendary 1959 Time Out album by the Dave Brubeck quartet – expanded here with unreleased outtakes from the recording date, which include two tracks that were not even on the original record! The sound of the group is legendary – the crisp alto of Paul Desmond next to the ever-shifting, always-rhythmic piano of Brubeck – the man who brought modern jazz to the masses – aided with the fantastic bass of Eugene Wright and razor-sharp drum work of Joe Morello – every bit as great here as on the album that was released! The first five tracks are pretty close to the originals, with slight variations – a testament to the well-rehearsed nature of the group – but the added tunes really show the record in formation, as does the extra banter between the band that's included at the end. New titles include "Watusi Jam" and "I'm In A Dancing Mood" – alongside alternate takes of "Blue Rondo A La Turk", "Take Five", "Cathy's Waltz", "Three To Get Ready", and "Strange Meadowlark". CD

59 tracks in all! CD

Features a long list of guest musicians including Roy Hargrove, Jon Hendricks, Joe Lovano, Gerry Mulligan, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride and George Shearing. CD

A weird one! – Dave Brubeck's son Darius plays music from Charlie Chaplin films like Modern Times, City Lights, and The Great Dictator. The sound's a bit hokey, but he does have a lot of hip bandmates helping him out, like Amos Garrett, Michael Brecker, and Perry Robinson. Amos Garrett sings on "Weeping Willow", which we could do without, but other tracks have some nice loose improvisation. LP, Vinyl record album

That's "Take Ten", not "Take Five" – a great title cut that echoes Paul Desmond's previous work with Dave Brubeck – but which then gives way quickly to some sweet bossa-styled grooves done with guitar from Jim Hall! The album's one of the strongest of the Hall/Desmond collaborations for RCA – A sublime showcase not just for Paul's impeccable alto, but also for the amazing tones and chromes that fly freely from the strings of Jim's guitar! Both players are set up with just a bit of gentle backing – light percussion from Connie Kay, and a bit of bass from Gene Cherico or Gene Wright. The whole thing's a well-conceived study in economy, as the two players craft sly and subtle lines around spare drum and bass backings – slowly hanging sound in space to weave a rich web of sound that's as compelling as it seems to be effortless! Titles include "Take Ten", "El Prince", "Embarcadero", "Samba De Orfeu", "Theme From Black Orpheus", and "Alone Together". CD

A mix of rootsy rock and more sophisticated modes – played by a 70s group that features Dave Brubeck's son on a variety of different instruments! The group may well be best known for their work with the older Brubeck on other records – but they stand nicely on their own here too, working through some tracks that show a compelling instrumental virtuosity, especially on guitars – mixing up older acoustic styles with some hipper, trippier elements of the times. Chris Brubeck plays organ, piano, guitar, bass, and trombone – and other instrumentation includes pedal steel, kalimba, electric piano, electric violin, viola, harmonica, flute, and more. Titles include "Nebulon Possessed", "The Idol", "I Look Upon What I Have Done", "Love You Tonite", "Raft Song", "Pegleg", and "Hard Lovin Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A heady dip into the musical frontiers of the postwar years – a set that digs deep into avant classical, jazz, and other styles – all to come up with sounds that later provided inspiration for The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and other landmark groups at the end of the 60s! Yet the styles here aren't rock at all – and instead showcase all these changes that had taken place long before the years of psych and prog, but in different forms of music – and even a bit of spoken word, as well – as some of these selections show just how much the recorded art form could work for unusual styles of vocal presentation. The four CDs feature a wonderful range of styles that all work together somehow – with work by Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Cathy Berberian, John Coltrane, Gustav Holst, Arnold Schoenberg, Jack Kerouac, Ali Akbar Khan, The Goons, Dave Brubeck, Percy Grainger, Hilaire Belloc, Sabicas, Delia Derbyshire, and many others! CD

With selections by Cy Coleman, Frank Sinatra, Wes Montgomery, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Herb Alpert, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Shelly Manne, Stan Kenton, Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, and Eric Clapton. LP, Vinyl record album

A key look at the early career of alto genius Paul Desmond – work recorded in the 50s away from the company of Dave Brubeck – a real rarity for the time! The first 8 tracks on the set are from the unique Desmond album – a session that features 4 tracks with Paul in a quintet with Dick Collins on trumpet and Dave Van Kriedt on tenor sax – working without a piano, and in a fluid-grooving style that recalls a lot of the Gerry Mulligan style of the time. The other 4 tracks from the set are even more unique – and have Desmond blowing dreamily over a "with voices" chorus – done with the Bill Bates singers in a style that's warmer than similar work by Charlie Parker, and which really points the way towards some of the Desmond solo genius of the 60s. The remaining 8 tracks on the set are from the Paul Desmond Quartet With Don Elliott – and a gem of a set that sounds quite different than even the other two on the set! The group's a quartet, playing again with no piano – and features Don Elliott on trumpet, Norman Bates (Joe from the Brubeck group) on bass, and Joe Chevrolet (aka Joe Doge, also from Brubeck) on drums – all swinging in an airy mode that's kind of a cross between Desmond's work with the Brubeck group, and some of Gerry Mulligan's early 50s recordings. Titles include "A Watchman's Carroll", "Jazzabelle", "Look For The Silver Lining", "Sacre Blues", and "Line For Lyons". CD

Oliver Nelson's follow-up to his classic Blues & The Abstract Truth session for Impulse – and like that one, a tremendous little album – filled with deep tones and wonderful colors in sound! The group here's a bit larger than before – an ensemble that includes Phil Woods on alto, Ben Webster on tenor, Thad Jones on trumpet, Pepper Adams on baritone, Roger Kellaway on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and Grady Tate on drums. The album includes some superb original compositions by Nelson – just the kind of overlooked jazz numbers that make the set great – and as with most of his arrangements from the time, there's a perfect balance between group force and intimate solo space! Titles include "The Critic's Choice", "Blues & The Abstract Truth", "One For Bob", and 2 versions of Dave Brubeck's "Theme From Mr. Broadway". Also included are two bonus tracks- "One For Phil" and "Night Lights". CD

One of the best albums we've heard in years from the mighty George Cables – a set that's based around jazz icons and inspirations for Cables' music – but one that's also still quite strongly in his own voice all the way through! The trio is very well-balanced – with excellent bass from Dezron Douglas, and drums from Victor Lewis – but it's definitely George who sets the tone for each tune – ringing out with notes that are richly colorful one moment, or subtle and rhythmic the next. In addition to some Cables-penned gems that echo the title – like "Cedar Walton" and "Farewell Mulgrew" – the set also features some beautiful reworkings of standards from others' songbooks – like Bobby Hutcherson's excellent "Little B's Poem", Dave Brubeck's "The Duke", Joe Henderson's "Isotope", and Bill Evans' "Very Early". The version of "Little B's Poem" is especially nice – done in a very fresh take with almost a Latin style of rhythm! CD

Narrated by Charles Kuralt – with Ron Carter, Lionel Hampton, Dave Brubeck, Toots Thielemans, Ursula Dudziak, Tito Puente, Jon Faddis, Clark Terry, Candido and more. CD