Customer Reviews

New Wine

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am writing this review only because everyone else has failed to do so.

I found the beginning of Koto Song, which has appeared on numerous albums, sublime. Then in the last third it launched into outer space and gave me a sort of Twilight Zone feel as I happened to be reading "Time for Sherlock Holmes," by David Dvorkin just then, where the sleuth is reminiscing with Watson in the year 2100 something over say the previous 200 hundred years.

Actually they have much in common since Dave is still banging away (don't take this the wrong way) at 84.

New Wine stars
Dave Brubeck (piano)
Bill Smith (clarinet)
Chris Brubeck (elec bass)
Randy Jones (drums)
The Montreal International Jazz Festival Orchestra, conducted by Russell Gloyd

This was recorded live at the festival in 1987 when Dave was very young...only 66

West Coast Cool aside, Brubeck's harmonic improvisations, referred to as piano banging by detractors, have often won praise from critics as well as fans. And I guess this is the fan forum. I have collected Brubeck releases since the age of twelve in 1959. Out of my 200 or so jazz albums maybe 70 are Brubeck releases, none compilations.

Would I recommend this album?

Definitely! Though you will find the entire track list other than "New Wine" on a variety of other albums, this album contains the most exhilirating take on Blue Rondo I've ever heard. I've had the album for 15 years and have just played it recently and fell in love with it all over again.

You will not fall asleep over this album, as one reviewer of Dave's LSO album did.

The Montreal International Jazz Festival Orchestra is totally awesome on each and every number. When the Bru Few play against the Orchestral Many on this album there is cause to celebrate!

This album caught me so by surprise that I had to play it through several times before I felt I could write an accurate review of it. The sound was so different from anything I had been accustomed to hearing from a Brubeck performance that I wasn't sure quite how to react to it at first.

I consider this to be one of Brubeck's less successful albums but only because in my opinion, his music does not work as well when played by a large pops orchestra. Songs such as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo A La Turk" were conceived and written for a jazz quartet and in my opinion, simply do not transition well to being performed by a larger jazz orchestra. While Dave's Quartet was part of the performance, I found that it's sounds simply got lost in the overall sound of the larger orchestra.

I consider myself a Brubeck fan and have some 40+ of his albums. Of that group, this is one of maybe two or three that I probably wouldn't purchase if I had the opportunity to make the decision again. On the other hand, the quality of the recording is good as are the performances both by the Montreal Orchestral and Dave's quartet.

If you are someone who likes hearing jazz performed on a large orchestra, by all means, do not let my comments dissuade you from purchasing it. In the final analysis, it's really a matter of personal preference.