Brubeck/Mulligan/ Cincinnati

Other Album Covers & Images

Label: Decca
Year: 1970
Released on LP: Yes
Released on CD: Yes

Tracks

1. Happy Anniversary
2. The Duke
3. Blessed Are the Poor (The Sermon on the Mount)
4. Forty Days
5. Elementals

Personnel

Dave Brubeck (piano)
Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax)
Alan Dawson (drums)
Jack Six (bass)
Eric Kunzel (conductor)

Notes

Recorded at Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio on 26th May 1970 with The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Reviews

All Music Guide – Review – copyright

This third collaboration by Dave Brubeck with Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra features his trio with Jack Six and Alan Dawson, as well as "special guest" Gerry Mulligan (who was essentially a member of the Brubeck Quartet by the time of the recording); it was originally released as a Decca LP.

Although its primary feature is a revival of Brubeck's extended piece for jazz quartet with orchestra, "Elementals," with Mulligan taking the place of alto saxophonist Paul Desmond on the original date, there are four other originals that merit attention. With one exception, Brubeck wrote all of the arrangements. This is the debut recording of "Happy Anniversary," an upbeat joyful composition that opens the disc with a flourish. "The Duke," a piece that has been recorded frequently by its composer over his long career, is heard in a swinging arrangement by Frank Proto, and features a typically lyrical solo by Mulligan.

Both the subdued, almost mournful "Blessed Are the Poor" and the brief but intense "Forty Days" were conceived as movements for Brubeck's larger sacred works, although they work very well as instrumentals, too. The only reservation about this CD reissue is a minor one: the rather bland, sparse packaging, though the odd photographs used on the original release aren't much better. This is easily one of the better examples of a jazz group integrated with a symphony orchestra, and it is highly recommended.

Ken Dryden

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