Brubeck Quartet Question

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alpertfan

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What ever happened to bassist Eugene Wright? He seems to be the only one of the Dave Brubeck Quartet from the 1950s and '60s to which there is no current info. It is known that Mr. Brubeck still records music and vigorously tours (God bless him) at the age of 80, that unfortunately, Paul Desmond succumed to lung cancer in '77, and I've read that drummer Joe Morello stopped playing in the late '70s because of failing eyesight (which coincedently happened during a reunion concert with the Quartet) and now teaches percussion. :?:
 
alpertfan said:
What ever happened to bassist Eugene Wright?

I know he was still around as of last year, since he was interviewed for a PBS special on Brubeck. I don't know if he's still playing or not.


Capt. Bacardi
NW: Texas vs Kansas State
 
Ah yes, the great Dave Brubeck Quartet, which are real faves of mine. Now, personally, I prefer their earlier works, i.e. the Fantasy & first few Columbia records, as the most appealing aspect of the 'Quartet's' performances were the duets 'tween Paul and Dave, and also that Desmond hadn't as yet convinced the recording technicians to mic his sax's bell excusively, which in 'later' times would tend to harmonically distort with Wright's bass. Oh, now this according to someone that had actually known Dave, that on the eve of a concert that Paul was unaware of, the Quarted was invited for dinner, but alas, Paul didn't tote his sax along, and so they had to locate and rent one for him. Paul could be kinda spacey, or so many thought, but he also had a great sense of humor. Also, I highly recommend the Dave Brubeck Trio, which featured Cal Tjader.
As a conclusion, and a fun fact to know and tell 'bout the 'Quartet', that Dave's famous drummer, Morello, had a major influence on Nick Ceroli. Sometime, compare Nicks cool economic solo on the T.J.B.'s "Wall St. Rag" to Morello's stylings.
Warm Wishes,
Steve
 
One of my favorite Brubeck albums is Time Further Out. As good as Time Out is, there's something extra to Further that I really like--it's a perennial favorite around here. This is smack-dab in the middle of my favorite Brubeck era, which also includes the West Side Story recordings, Bravo! Brubeck, Time In, and a few others.

I wish someone still made jazz like this today. It was melodic, tuneful, and yet it still had a lot of "meat" that a jazz aficionado could find to like about it. Some of the critics seem to find fault in these recordings, but then again, these same critics like that oddball noodly neo-bop crap that's called "jazz" today.

-= N =-
...discerning jazz buff...
 
Yes, Rudy, I agree with you that the Quartet's 60's music was appealing, and of course their thematic or 'jazz impressions' albums were particularly favored by Brubeck's legion of fans, but what I was referring to were Dave's music from the early to mid 50's, which offered those cool duet between Paul and Dave. For my money, there's nothing better in Brubeckland than "Jazz:Red Hot and Cool", which hails from circa '55. This is the Quartet's debut on Colombia, during which time, as most Quartet enthusiasts know, Dave alternately recorded for Fantasy as well. As for the wonderfull Fantasy albums, they are legendary in modern jazz, and include Dave's many University concerts, which rank today as the most inspired jazz performances, and while the Quartet hadn't as yet jelled into the famous lineup of the 'Time Out' era, the players that Dave employed were nonetheless noteworthy...one can't disparage the likes of Ron Crotty, or the Bates Bros. on bass, or Joe Dodge on drums, and for an early contribution for Morello, there's the fine Newport Jazz Festival recordings in which the Quartet presented a nifty tribute to Duke Ellington. So, Rudy, when I think of the fabulous Dave Brubeck Quartet, it's their groundbreaking innovations of their first decade. Gimme "Jazz at Oberlin", "Brubeck Time", the aforementioned 'Newport' date, or those wonderfull albums taped at the
Blackhawk and such any ol' day, cuz THAT'S Dave Brubeck to me. From there one out, of course me loves the 60's stuff, and lest one forget that, in addition to "Time Out", there was also a companion disk that featured Bill Smith on clarinet, in place of Desmond, so add the modality experiments of "Brubeck ala Mode" to one's library of fine jazz. I can easily go on and on and then on about my fav'rite jazzer, but I'll turn the forum over to whomever also digs the progressive stylings of Dave, the etherial beauty of Paul, and the melodic basswork or Wright (or Crotty, Bates, Bull Ruther, and others, and of course the inventiveness of Morello, and ...
In short, I jest LOVE the outtasight music of Dave Brubeck!:cool:
Warm (and cool) Wishes,
Steve, who now must allow his delete key to 'take five' and split for now
 
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