Customer Reviews

This Is Jazz 3

5 star:		(6)
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This is the first jazz CD that I have ever worn out (I know you cannot actually wear out a CD). A great CD for someone who wants to experience jazz for the first time. A must have.

Classically trained Dave Brubeck (he studied piano with Milhaud and Schoenberg) and his quartet perform two of their famous originals, as well as several standards on THIS IS JAZZ 3. These 1954 to '63 COLUMBIA recordings have never sounded better. Brubeck's penchant for unusual time signatures and extended improvs is apparent on all of these tracks. Liner notes include recording dates and personnel. Highly recommended for fans of the "cool," Third Stream and experimental jazz idioms.

TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 52:27

Probably the single best Jazz CD I've ever gotten. The style of Jazz that you would expect to hear in a small Jazz club with four or five guys sitting on stage just grooving. Also a lighter style of Jazz, if you are a budding Jazz fan or just haven't understood the thrill behind it get this CD it will change your mind.

Just a short word for this album. I had very little knowledge of Dave Brubeck or jazz when I first got this CD. Just a hook from that cool, quirky song that once graced an Infiniti commercial featuring Jonathan Pryce. I wouldn't call myself a jazz expert now either, but I couldn't help wanting to learn more after hearing this fantastic album. Top to bottom, the entire album is a great journey through Brubeck jazz, often mellow, innovative, and, at its best when backed, as it is here, by Paul Desmond's smoky fluidity. Of course Take Five is rightfully featured, but is challenged for prominence by other selections such as Blue Rondo a la Turk, Someday My Prince Will Come, Pennies from Heaven, and my favorite, a knockout rendition of For All We Know. If you're looking specifically for Brubeck, or just looking to love jazz a little better, this album is a step in that direction.

I have enjoyed this quartet for over 55 years and here, buy this album, you will hear why! What a sound investment!

Sony Music put out a "This is Jazz" series a few years back of some of the best jazz recordings ever made....repackaged, reprocessed, and moderately priced for the budget impaired listener like me; it is for those who love good sound and who actually spend time listening to their CD collection. Volume # 3 has Dave Brubeck and his session men, circa 1954-63, or in other words, in his "Take Five" era, and in his college campus concert years. Dave, Paul Desmond, alto sax and Joe Morello, drums, were the majors in the quartet during these years and their cool sound had came about with experimenting with classical music themes and unusual time settings--indeed,"Take Five" sounds as if the guys variated on Ravel's "Bolero", but that's just my opinion. Anyway, the music was called "third stream" and many other artists of his day began incorporating the sound and technique to their work--most notably Brubeck's contemporary Vince Giraldi and present day keyboardists Bob James and (one of my favorites), Alex Bugnon....Purists may get in a bunch about any collection. They'd say "Wall, get this CD which was recorded in such-in-such with so-in-so who was a much better drummer than whosamacallit". I've always said to try different sounds and styles of music. There ain't no telling where your tastes will run...enjoyment is the "final answer", as it were. Now, everyone knows that the "Take Five" recording is generally considered essential Dave Brubeck...it probably made every jazz critics top 20 best recordings of the millenium. This "This is Jazz" CD, however, ain't exactly no slouch. It has "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo A La Turk", it has jams from the popular "Dave Digs Disney" and it has an excellent live performance of "For All We Know"...and it is as good as it gets with enough to satisfy novice and purist alike. Thanks to the Sony Legacy folks....and Amazon.com has it for you!