Search - Dave Brubeck :: 25th Anniversary Reunion

A reunion every jazz fan must have

J. B Brent | Oak Ridge, Tennessee USA | 10/17/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This reunion of the Quartet is a must-have for any fan of Brubeck, Desmond and jazz in general. Hard to believe this one's gone out of print in the U.S. It came out on vinyl as A&M SP-714 (Horizon 15) and was available on domestic CD (A&M 806) from 1988 until recently. Another project from the same period, 1975: THE DUETS (Brubeck and Desmond, A&M SP 703, Horizon 3) needs to be reissued as well. It's a shame domestic labels don't seem to care much about vintage jazz."

THE FIRST JAZZ ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT

Alex Udvary | chicago, il United States | 02/04/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Up till the point when I bought this album my knowledge of jazz was limited to Benny Goodman,Louis Armstrong,and Duke Ellington. But to say I hated jazz wouldn't really be fair. I never really heard it before! I bought this album for the song "Take Five". The quartet's best know song. I instantly became intrigued with Paul Desmond's playing. I went as far as even buying a sax! Now that I've heard a great deal by Brubeck I can honestly say this is not one of the better recordings by the group! The rendition of "Take Five" is rather poor. Desmonds solo lacks passion. It sounds as if he didn't know what to do with the song! And he wrote it! Brubeck comes in after Desmond and does some good. The song that gives off their best performance is "St. Louis Blues". Which is a song Brubeck loved to open a show with. But again Desmonds playing lacks something. This was one of his last recordings. He died the next year. This album was mostly saved by Brubeck. I wouldn't recommend you start off listen to Brubeck with this album. Buy this one after you've heard the group play on other albums. This way you can see HOW THIS ONE DOESN'T BUILD UP TO THE STANDARD OF OTHER BRUBECK RECORDINGS!"