''Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein'' is a 1961 studio album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Its title refers to the fact that it consists of both a Brubeck composition conducted by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

(though the "Brubeck" there is

Howard Brubeck Howard Rengstorff Brubeck (July 11, 1916 – February 16, 1993) was a composer and music educator and the older brother of jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. His best known work, ''Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra'', premiered at Carnegie Hall De ...

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

's brother) and Bernstein compositions played by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The title is also an echo of Dave Brubeck's 1956 solo debut album, '' Brubeck Plays Brubeck''. The whole first side of the album consists of the composition "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra", composed by

and performed by the New York Philharmonic and the Dave Brubeck Quartet, under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. The second side consists of arrangements of five songs from the musicals '' West Side Story'' and '' Wonderful Town'', whose music was written by Bernstein.

Overview

The album started to take shape when "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra" was premiered at a New York Philharmonic series on December 10, 11 and 13, 1959, with Leonard Bernstein conducting.Columbia LP CL-1466 liner notes This was considered at the time to be an early, successful jazz/classical crossover project – similar to those that had already been initiated by the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), ...

, Gunther Schuller and their peers in the study of what Schuller termed "

Third Stream Third stream is a music genre that is a fusion of jazz and classical music. The term was coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller in a lecture at Brandeis University. Improvisation is generally seen as a vital component of third stream. Schull ...

" music.

The Dialogues

"In this work an attempt is made to construct a score giving the orchestra an important part to play which adheres strictly to written notes, while the particular combination, or 'combo', of jazz instruments, is free to improvise on the material of the movement..." —Howard Brubeck (Original LP liner notes)

Track listing

On the original vinyl

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

Side A

# "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra (Allegro)" – 6:55 # "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra (Andante-Ballad)" – 5:13 # "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra (Adagio-Ballad)" – 4:46 # "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra (Allegro-Blues)" – 5:34

Side B

# " Maria" (Leonard Bernstein,

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

) – 3:16 # "

I Feel Pretty "I Feel Pretty" is a song from the 1957 musical ''West Side Story''. Production ''The New York Times'' explained that "Mr. Sondheim…has said he was never particularly fond of his lyrics in 'West Side Story,' especially 'I Feel Pretty, later e ...

" (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) – 5:06 # " Somewhere" (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) – 4:13 # "A Quiet Girl" (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green) – 2:23 # " Tonight" (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) – 3:48

Personnel

The ''Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra'' was composed by

; the other selections were composed by

. ; Musical *

– piano * Paul Desmond –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

* Eugene Wright – double bass * Joe Morello –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

conducting New York Philharmonic

References

{{Authority control 1961 albums Dave Brubeck albums Concept albums Cool jazz albums Columbia Records albums Albums conducted by Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein