Live From The Northwest, 1959
The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Brubeck Editions.
This is the third album of what has already shaped up as an amazing series of releases from Brubeck Editions, a record label created in 2020 by members of the Brubeck family and the iconic pianist’s many musical collaborators.
It’s remarkable from an archival standpoint for ardent jazz buffs, capturing an important moment in time.
The performances used to make this disc were recorded just four months before Brubeck and his famous quartet recorded Time Out, the group’s breakthrough album that upended the jazz world and became a megahit on college campuses, especially because of its wildly popular hit single, “Take Five,” and another song that became globally famous, “Blue Rondo à la Turk.”
Another thing that makes Live From the Northwest, 1959 impressive is the quartet’s dazzling cover of “When The Saints Go Marching In,” the album’s lead-off song and arguably the most memorable.
Why?
Saints has become one of the most covered, most seemingly worn out songs. Yet here is the Brubeck Editions, digging deep into the archives and giving us a version many of us - myself included - have never heard and found amazing.
Yes, the Brubeck quartet’s 64-year-old version of Saints has a real wow factor to it. It has staying power.
In addition to Brubeck on piano, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello on drums, there’s alto saxman extraordinaire Paul Desmond doing his flawless solos before the world discovered him and the rest of the band. It’s a really cool moment in jazz history, with a really cool West Coast vibe.
The CD was released Nov. 3. The vinyl version will be released Nov. 24 as a Record Store Day exclusive.
The live shows for this album were recorded on April 4, 1959 at the historic Multnomah Hotel in Portland, Ore., and on April 5, 1959 in the auditorium at nearby Clark College. Brubeck’s most classic music has the legs to endure in 2023, that’s for sure.
First Published November 9, 2023, 12:00 p.m.
