Search - Dave Brubeck :: 50 Years of Dave Brubeck: Live at Monterey Jazz

Why was this only one CD?

Stuart Morris | COLLEGEVILLE, PA USA | 09/11/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On the whole, this is an excellent CD. The one problem I had was that Take 5 sounds like it was recorded in a bathtub. The sound is muddy/distant and the mix is awful. Paul Desmond's sax is sometimes barely audible on Take Five. This is their signature song; What were they thinking when they mixed it for this CD? Which brings me to the decision to make it one CD. After 50 years at this Jazz Festival, they only found enough material for one CD? I don't get it.

Brubeck/Desmond/Wright/Morello are great, but they did a disservice to the public by releasing just one CD.

"

Enjoyable but not essential

Beth C. | San Diego, CA | 12/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dave Brubeck has been one of the artists most essential to the success of the Monterey Jazz Festival, so the release of such a disk is appropriate. I would agree that there should be sufficient material for a two-disk set (and I wish they had included part of "The Real Ambassadors" and one of Brubeck's longer commissioned pieces). Yet this is still a good overview of Brubeck's many festival appearances and styles. The first three selections are with the classic Desmond/ Wright/ Morello quartet, while other selections feature his collaborations with Gerry Mulligan, his sons and one solo piano piece. The inclusion of "Take Five" is essential for any Brubeck collection. I was surprised at the occasional emphasis of drums over Desmond's saxophone in this piece, but it was interesting to hear a version that featured a piano solo by Brubeck.



Overall, it's an enjoyable, if not essential, CD for Brubeck fans."