Customer Reviews

In His Own Sweet Way: Tribute to Dave Brubeck

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Jazz compilation / Tribute albums have a tendency to fall into stylistic ruts more often than not. Tributes to past masters of the Jazz canon usually are very traditional in scope and some what sterile. But not this one. John Zorn's all star cast contributes 14 tunes, most of them lesser know Brubeck compositions (there is no "Take 5"). Their interpretations of these tunes are as varied as the artists themselves.

There are acoustic / free- interpretations of the material by pianist Anthony Coleman and MMW. Pianist Uri Caine pounds out a swaggering performance on "Far More Blues" and Sex Mob belts out a distinctive grinding dirge on "Jumpin". Pachora and David Krakauer dig into a middle-eastern music stream for their renditions. Solo contemplative pieces are rendered by guitarist Bill Frisell and cellist Erik Friedlander. Drummer Joey Baron and bassist Tony Scherr deliver a cool swinging track and Slowpoke eases out a smokey blues groove. Dave Slusser, Eyvind Kang and Dave Douglas contribute the most experimental tracks to the tribute, with Douglas' solo-overdubbed work resembling late period electric Miles Davis as filtered through Sun Ra and modally based eastern musics. The Ruins deliver what may be the standout track of the whole disc however. Their bass and drum prog-rock workout of "Blue Rondo A La Turk" is not to be missed. Worth the price alone.

This disc will be attractive for those interested in contemporary jazz players or fusion of jazz and international music or, of course, Dave Brubeck. I was attracted as this cd included the name Bill Frisell (He is my favorite and so is 'Summer Song' ) and Dave Douglas. The musics are nice when you sit on the corner of cafe in Paris or walking around maze of paths in Venice. Scene changes.