''Brubeck Time'' is a jazz album by

The Dave Brubeck Quartet 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 ...

, a rare

studio recording The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case of Broadway mu ...

from that period of the band, when it was recording mostly live albums. It was recorded in the fall of 1954, and originally released in 1955 under the Columbia label as CL 622. In 1968, Columbia re-channeled the album for stereo and re-released it as ''Instant Brubeck'' under the Harmony label as HS 11253. It was later re-released again on CD in 1991 under the title ''Interchanges '54'' as CK 47032, with the addition of four tracks from '' Jazz: Red Hot and Cool''. The album features one of the earlier Quartet lineups, with Bob Bates on bass and Joe Dodge on drums. Although now not as famous as some of the band's other albums, in retrospect it has a lot of depth, and those interested in jazz will find it "certainly worth acquiring". According to a 1955 letter written by Avakian to Brubeck, the cover was "designed around the

Boris Artzybasheff Boris Mikhailovich Artzybasheff (russian: , 25 May 1899, Kharkiv, Russian Empire – 16 July 1965) was a Ukrainian illustrator active in the United States, notable for his strongly worked and often surreal designs. Life and career Artzybasheff w ...

painting which was on

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

magazine's cover of November 8th

954 Year 954 ( CMLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – A Hungarian army led by Bulcsú crosses the Rhine. He camps at Worms in th ...

The pieces

Most of the pieces in the album are old standards revisited by the quartet. Notable among them is a sparkling and very lively rendition of "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now". There are two original compositions: "Audrey" and "Stompin' for Mili".

Audrey

This piece was meant to contrast the excitement of "Stompin' For Mili". Brubeck recalls the recording of the piece in a 1955 letter:" 'I would like,' said Gjon ili closing his eyes and raising his hand expressively, 'I would like to see Audrey Hepburn come walking through the woods.' 'Gee,' said Paul wistfully, 'So would I.' 'One,' I said, noticing the glazed expression about Paul's eyes 'two, three, four'. And we played it. Hence, the title." The piece is a 12-bar blues in the key of B-flat minor; however, the melody of "Balcony Rock", an improvised blues in B-flat Major, recorded on ''

Jazz Goes to College ''Jazz Goes to College'' is a 1954 album documenting the North American college tour of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. It was Dave Brubeck's first album for Columbia Records. He was joined by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, double bassist Bob Bates (musi ...

'', is used to conclude "Audrey". There is an "alternate take", released as "Makin' Time", that is rarely heard. It was released on a Columbia compilation LP called ''I Like Jazz!'' around 1955.

"Stompin' for Mili"

This song was recorded for photographer

Gjon Mili Gjon Mili (November 28, 1904 – February 14, 1984) was an Albanian photographer from Korçë who developed his profession in America, best known for his work published in ''Life'', in which he photographed artists such as Pablo Picasso. Biogr ...

. Mili had agreed very reluctantly to film the Quartet at work, and the band felt "on pretty shaky ground" at the session. Their first attempt to record was, as a result, very tentative, and Mili's dismissive pronouncement after this "take" made Brubeck's "blood

egin Egin may refer to: * ''Egin'' (newspaper), a defunct bilingual Basque-Spanish newspaper * Eğin, the name for the town of Kemaliye, Turkey, until about 1923 * Egin, Idaho, United States, an unincorporated community * Yuri Egin, an anime-only cha ...

to boil". The resulting second "take", heard on the album, was an "expression of rage and frustration".Brubeck, liner notes to ''Brubeck Time''. The piece was a development from the classic live recording of Give a Little Whistle/ Oh Lady Be Good in the 1953 Fantasy album Jazz at Storyville, the newer version alternating from major to minor tone during Brubeck’s solo. The version of Give a Little Whistle included on the album Jazz at the College of the Pacific vol.2, also recorded in 1953, but issued only in 2002, clearly shows the progression of the original version of Give a Little Whistle/ Oh Lady Be Good into Stomping for Mili, alternating from major to minor tone during the improvised solos by Brubeck and Desmond.

Track listing

# "Audrey" (Brubeck, Desmond) – 3:35 # " Jeepers Creepers" ( Johnny Mercer, Harry Warren) – 4:57 # " Pennies From Heaven" ( Johnny Burke, Arthur Johnston) – 6:28 # "Why Do I Love You?" (

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...

, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 5:42 # "Stompin' for Mili" (Brubeck, Desmond) – 5:27 # " Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" ( Andy Razaf, Fats Waller) – 5:06 # " A Fine Romance" (

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...

) – 3:48 # " Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" ( Edgar Yipsel Harburg,

Jay Gorney Jay Gorney (December 12, 1896– June 14, 1990) was an American theater and film song writer. Life and career Gorney was born Abraham Jacob Gornetzsky on December 12, 1896, in Białystok, Russia (now part of Poland), the son of Frieda (Perlst ...

) – 5:17 ''Tracks 1, 2, 7 recorded on October 12, 1954; tracks 5, 8 recorded on October 13; tracks 3, 4 recorded on October 14; track 6 recorded on November 10, 1954.''

Personnel

* Dave Brubeck - piano *

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, " Take Five". He ...

- alto sax * Bob Bates - double bass * Joe Dodge - drums

Technical personnel

George Avakian George Mesrop Avakian (; russian: Геворк Авакян; March 15, 1919 – November 22, 2017) was an American record producer, artist manager, writer, educator and executive. Best known for his work from 1939 to the early 1960s at Decca Re ...

– producer * Nicholas Bennett – packaging manager * Steven Berkowitz – A&R * Didier C. Deutsch – producer, reissue producer * Howard Fritzson – art direction * Russell Gloyd – producer, reissue producer * John Jackson – production assistant * Randall Martin – design * Patti Matheny – A&R * Seth Rothstein – director * Mark Wilder – remixing, remastering

References

{{Authority control 1955 albums Columbia Records albums Dave Brubeck albums Albums produced by George Avakian Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio