Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 2026)

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18383 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 247 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 17 ), 57

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Saturday, April 09, 2022

Album review: Dave Brubeck Trio - Live From Vienna 1967

Dave Brubeck (piano); Eugene Wright (bass); Joe Morello (drums)

Yes! Yet another 'newly discovered' album from days of yore has turned up! This one is also particularly unique inasmuch as it is probably the only occasion when the Brubeck Quartet sans Paul Desmond took to the sage as a trio.

Desmond's going AWOL seemingly came about after a concert in Hamburg when Paul left to 'explore the town' and subsequently missed the following day's flight to Vienna - in fact he missed several flights giving Dave no alternative but to do the gig as a trio. What excuse he gave the audience for Desmond's non-appearance we don't know. Maybe he told them that the alto player had had to take five (Covid had yet to be invented).

However, cometh the hour cometh the man or, in this case, the trio who rose to the occasion magnificently.

Brubeck, proves himself to be worthy of the applause that follows each number, his technique encompassing the whole pantheon of jazz piano as it had evolved from the beginning of time to the then present (1967). Wright superb on bass and Morello demonstrating why, at the time, he was the drummer most highly regarded by his peers over all of the rest, combine to make this a most enjoyable 42 minutes.

Recommended. Lance

St. Louis Blues; One Moment Worth Years; Swanee River; La Paloma Azul; Someday my Prince Will Come; Take the A Train.

CD available April 14. LP available April 23.

1 comment :

Aaron said...

Well said. The album is full of so much color and spontaneous wit. And it's beautifully recorded and mastered on the LP. It's a positively riveting listen.

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