Search - Dave Brubeck :: Love Songs

Love Songs
Dave Brubeck
Love Songs
Genres: Jazz, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (10) - Disc #1

Were it not for the warm embraces from Paul Desmond's alto saxophone, this collection of love songs would be a case study in emotional dysfunction. While Dave Brubeck is an influential pianist and one of the leading lights...  more »

     
   
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CD Details

All Artists: Dave Brubeck
Title: Love Songs
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 1
Label: Sbme Special Mkts.
Release Date: 3/25/2008
Genres: Jazz, Pop
Style: Cool Jazz
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 886972834221

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Were it not for the warm embraces from Paul Desmond's alto saxophone, this collection of love songs would be a case study in emotional dysfunction. While Dave Brubeck is an influential pianist and one of the leading lights of the dry, West Coast "cool" school of jazz, his poker-faced approach to tonal inflections and his emphasis on tricky, technical time signatures is not the sort of thing that makes people feel cuddly. The exception occurs on the lead track, a stirring rendition of Rodgers and Hart's "My Romance" that has Brubeck setting an intimate mood with a contemplative opening solo. After that, Desmond's lyrical élan bears most of the romantic burden. He is generally up to the task, capturing just the right mix of whimsicality and wistfulness on "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" and teaming with Brubeck for a wonderfully understated treatment of West Side Story's "Somewhere." There are some misfires: the rhythmic backing on "La Paloma Azul" sounds hopelessly anachronistic beside today's Latin and Afro-Cuban offerings, and the record's lone previously unreleased song, "You Go to My Head," lacks the cohesion customary of a Brubeck ensemble. But overall, this is a pleasant collection that offers a less cerebral side of Brubeck as he assays pieces from the Great American Songbook. --Britt Robson

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CD Reviews

A Great Compilation
j-k | Sterling Heights, MI | 01/24/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This new disc from Legacy/Columbia is amazing! Ten tracks and over 60 minutes of great, romantic jazz. Culminating tracks from eight classic albums, plus one unreleased track... the lovely "You Go to My Head", with brilliant clarinet from Bill Smith.This disc is a must for all Brubeck fans, and jazz lovers of all ages! Bru is a one-of-a-kind interpreter of these standards."
Dave Brubeck's Most Gentle Moments
Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* | CA USA | 06/05/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I became a Dave Brubeck fan because of "Take Five." Dubbed as "the intellectual and college-oriented jazz artist," he greatly impressed me with this jazz piece that is well-loved amongst jazz fans. I just loved its infectious and uniquely engaging cadence. He made a major breakthrough in jazz when he recorded this very powerful tune from the album Time Out, which became one of the most sublime jazz albums ever recorded. Many jazz aficionados are singling this out as one of the landmarks in the history of jazz. Upon its release, it was making big waves and getting a lot of air plays from various jazz radio stations.



Hats off to compilation producers of "Love Songs," Didier Deutsch and Seth Rothstein for their brilliant ideas in collecting ten of Dave Brubeck's most gentle recordings from eight different albums during a ten-year period from 1957 through 1967. These recordings show the prodigious pianist in his most gentle moments. He shows off not only the spontaneous joy of improvisation on the entire program, but also his flair in composing some of the best original jazz tunes of all-time: "Audrey" and "In Your Own Sweet Way." He is backed by his long-time musical partners who are some of the very best players in the jazz world: Paul Desmond on alto sax, Eugene Wright on bass, Joe Morello on drums, Bill Smith on clarinet, Bob Bates on bass for track seven and Joe Dodge on drums for track eight.



While the entire collection is such a joy to listen to, a top favorite of mine is "Like Someone In Love" where Paul Desmond shows off his impressive style and par excellence alto sax playing. He treats his instrument like no other. It is very-distinctively-Desmond. This is undeniably the best instrumental version for this Johnny Burke and Jim Van Heusen classic.



A second choice would be "You Go To My Head," which starts off with Brubeck's ingenious piano chops followed by Bill Smith's clarinet that sounds so beautiful. This is the only previously-unreleased-track from this set that makes it worthy to any jazz fan. It was recorded in 1963.



The rest of the selected cuts that are eloquently rendered with lots of improvisations include "These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)," "My Romance" and "Besame Mucho."



This is truly a great compilation that deserves to be in any jazz lover's music library. No matter how many times you listen to it at any time of year, its timeless appeal will never fade.



"Music is the outburst of the soul." ~ Frederick Delius ~"
Noisy live recordings of some tracks!!!
Methuselah | Los Angeles, CA | 08/15/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)

"There are some beautiful tracks on this CD, but some are live recordings which I find quite annoying because the sound of sporadic applause throughout a track interferes with the music itself. Had I known that, I would not have bought this CD for the simple reason that as a general rule I stay away from live recordings. The sample clips on Amazon postings leave out these noisy parts and if somewhere they disclose that some tracks are live recording, I must have missed it.



If the noise does not bother you, then this is a CD worth having."