Quartet San Francisco plays Dave Brubeck

Label: Violin Jazz Recordings
Year: 2009
Released on LP: No
Released on CD: Yes

Tracks

1. Three to Get Ready
2. Strange Meadow Lark
3. The Golden Horn
4. The Duke
5. Take Five
6. Kathy's Waltz
7. Blue Rondo à la Turk
8. Bluette
9. Unsquare dance
10. It's a Raggy Waltz
11. Forty Days
12. What Child is This?

Notes

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Time Out, QSF pays tribute to the mastery of Brubeck with the first-ever all Brubeck string quartet CD.

The album was nominated in 2009 in two Grammy categories:

- Best Classical Crossover Album
- Best Engineered Album, Classical

All tracks are by Dave Brubeck except track 5, Paul Desmond’s,"Take Five".

All tracks are arranged by Jeremy Cohen.

Recorded July 31–August 3, 2009, Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, CA.

Reviews

All Music Guide – Review – copyright

String quartets like Quartet San Francisco that play jazz compositions are challenging to label stylistically, as they are often putting their own stamp on the music, even if things seem tightly arranged. This CD focuses mostly on the works of jazz pianist/composer Dave Brubeck, including five of the seven songs from his best-selling album Time Out, though a few of the pieces have rarely been recorded by others. With Jeremy Cohen and Alisa Rose on violins, viola player Keith Lawrence, and cellist Michelle Djokic, they are similar in some ways to the Turtle Island String Quartet in their early years, though the QSF have remained in a jazz setting over time. Among the most intriguing tracks are the tense, train-like interpretation of "The Golden Horn" (premiered by Brubeck on Jazz Impressions of Eurasia) and the mournful "Bluette," while cellist Matthew Brubeck (the pianist's youngest son) arranged the playful setting of "The Duke" for the quartet. The band masters the challenging "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and a wonderful, offbeat arrangement of Paul Desmond's "Take Five" that suggests a country hoedown at times. The CD concludes with a powerful pair of religious works, Brubeck's moving "Forty Days" and the centuries-old "What Child Is This?" This compelling release by Quartet San Francisco should appeal to chamber music and jazz fans alike.

Ken Dryden

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