Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz Goes to College

Bodes poorly

[Follow up: It's just been reissued. Look for the March 2008 reissue of this vital date elsewhere on Amazon.]

How can Sony/Columbia have ignored this recording for twenty years, resulting in prohibitive collectors' prices of fifty dollars and up? This was Brubeck-Desmond's greatest period, before the tamer and more formulaic studio albums, including "Time Out." Exploring the expansive, climactically structured solos of "Balcony Rock," "Le Souk," "I Want to Be Happy," etc. courtesy of the Columbia Record Club was a revelation to tens of thousands of young people in search of an alternative to Dick Clark's American Bandstand, to Elvis and the Beatles. Listening to these sounds now and then checking in on the music that currently encourages a semblance of the same enthusiasm among college-aged young people is to experience disbelief and incomprehension. How could a group without guitars, chest-thumping amplification, straggly hair and denim, and even vocals of any sort produce such excitement?

It's clear that Sony and the other three big domestic recording companies don't care, don't know, and won't spend an extra dime or minute on anything that won't pay big dividends. Count yourself lucky that for a brief moment the industry felt differently: hence Sony's considerable investment in the near-miraculous digital restoration of "Ellington at Newport '56." Also, count yourself fortunate if you still have good equipment for playing LPs. But don't be lured into total complacency. The Brubeck material prior to their signing with Columbia ("At Oberlin," "At College of the Pacific") is equally electric and exciting, and it's available. As for "Jazz Goes to College," look to the non-domestic companies (Absolute Distribution, the Spanish company, is exceptional) and to the downloading services (though there's something unsatisfying about owning an electro-magnetic wave). April 11, 2008

No professoral straightforward Jazz

Being a fan of Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, I may be somewhat biased to review their work. Nevertheless, Jazz Goes to College is in the same appreciative category as the unforgettable Carnegie Hall concert. In other words: a real must listen to, a real must have. February 13, 2008

Perhaps my favorite "cool jazz" CD

Certainly Time Out is a great album, as are just about all the Brubeck albums, but to me, this early album (1954) is the Brubeck to get first. This is completely fresh and unique jazz improvisation that to my ears goes deeper than just about anything else in the cool jazz/west coast school of the 50s. Paul Desmond sounds absolutely inspired, and everyone in the group sounds as if they are totally on the same page. It even seems that the audience is listening with bated breath, absolutely in synch with what this group is doing. This music seems to float, sounding like a perfect dry martini (which is, I think, a common metaphor to describe Paul Desmond's alto sax sound). This even holds true when Desmond throws in elements that sound to my ears almost atonal, and perhaps these aspects of his playing are why Anthony Braxton cites him as a central influence.

My only complaint is that I wish Columbia Records would release a remastered version of this CD! March 18, 2006

Where is Jazz Goes to Junior College?????

This one of Brubeck's (and of course Desmond's -- where would the quartet be without him?) greatest recordings -- much truer to real jazz than the programmed formulaic "Time Out"/"Time In"/Time Anywhere series. This one is on a par with the fine "Jazz at the College of the Pacific," where drummer Joe Dodge creates a very different swing for the group than he does here, or as the smoother Joe Morello did for the group later. Morello brings me, however, to the other classic -- "Jazz Goes to Junior College" -- which INEXPLICABLY is still not available. Why not?? Desmond's fabulous solo on "Bru's Blues" on "Junior" is on a par or better than "Balcony Rock" here. Is Sony really so broke that they cannot add this classic to the Brubeck CD shelf? At least to make the three college concerts a series.....now there's a marketing plan for them!! February 25, 2006

Brubeck at His Very Best

Amazing! Recorded in 1954 and, in my opinion, his best. Liked him better before the commercial success of Take Five. If there's a better tenor sax man than Paul Desmond, let me know. His solo on La Souk is nothing short of magnificent.

This recording was re-released as a double record album with Jazz Goes to Junior College, also classic but not released on casette or CD. If anyone knows if it was and where I can get it, let me know. Email: buzzmag2@yahoo.com March 26, 2005

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