More of the Music of Dave Brubeck
As is the case with most live albums, the sound of the crowd tells you a lot about the recording, and on this copy the crowd sounded exceptionally clear and natural.
Many live albums have crowds that are either too bright, or too loud between tracks, both of which can be very off-putting. When the crowd is recorded and mixed right — again, these are pros from Columbia Records who really know their jazz — you feel as if you are immersed right there in the audience.
Tubey Magic
This vintage Columbia 360 stereo pressing has the kind of Tubey Magical Midrange that modern records cannot even BEGIN to reproduce. Folks, that sound is gone and it sure isn’t showing any sign of coming back. If you love hearing INTO a recording, actually being able to “see” the performers, and feeling as if you are sitting in the audience at the live show, this is the record for you. It’s what Live Jazz Recordings are known for — this sound.
If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but less than one out of 100 new records do, if our experience with the hundreds we’ve played can serve as a guide.
Classic Jazz – How Can You Go Wrong?
What the best sides of this Classic Live Jazz Album have to offer is clear for all to hear:
- The biggest, most immediate staging in the largest acoustic space
- The most Tubey Magic, without which you have almost nothing. CDs give you clean and clear. Only the best vintage vinyl domestic pressings like this one offer the kind of Tubey Magic that was on the tapes in 1968
- Tight, note-like, rich, full-bodied bass, with the correct amount of weight down low
- Natural tonality in the midrange — with all the keyboards, guitars and drums having the correct sound for this kind of recording
- Transparency and resolution, critical to hearing into the three-dimensional space of the concert hall
No doubt there’s more but we hope that should do for now
Playing the record is the only way to hear all of the above, and playing the best pressings against a pile of other copies under rigorously controlled conditions is the only way to find a pressing that sounds as good as this one does.
TRACK LISTING
Side One
Jumping Bean
Adis, Mariquita Linda
Indian Song
Tender Woman (Tierna Mujer)
Side Two
Amapola
Lullabye De Mexico (Lullabye Of Mexico)
Sapito
Recuerdo (Remembrance)
AMG Review
This fine LP was the debut of Brubeck’s new Quartet, a group featuring baritonist Gerry Mulligan, bassist Jack Six and drummer Alan Dawson. Recorded live in Mexico, the album (unlike the previous Bravo! Brubeck which mostly stuck to traditional folk melodies) has three originals apiece from Brubeck and Mulligan, although the most memorable pieces are the two standards “Adios, Mariquita Linda” and “Amapola.” This enjoyable set showed that for Brubeck there was life after Paul Desmond.