Dave Brubeck - Indian Summer

In his prime, Dave Brubeck was never known for his delicacy as a pianist--quite the opposite. But it's that quality that defines "Indian Summer," a collection of lightly nuanced ballads featuring him alone at his instrument, confronting old age at 86. With its slow-to-leisurely tempos and plainspoken style, this 72-minute effort is best heard in small sections. But there's no denying the emotion at the heart of tunes like "September Song," "I'm Alone," and the title song, or the charm of the subtle stride and blues touches he applies to classics, including "Memories of You" and "Georgia on My Mind." --Lloyd Sachs Amazon.com

Subtle Ivory Ruminations

One might say this CD encapsulates the life of a classically trained Jazz pianist. However, shades of Art Tatum, Scott Joplin, Fats Waller and yes Darius Milhaud come to light here. If you are seeking fireworks and presto this CD is not for you. That does not mean this music isn't without dynamics--it has--but the potent is in the subtlety. Listen.

Take a listen to track three, "Autumn in Our Town" a beautifully expressed and crafted Indian Summer piano vignette by Dave Brubeck. This track is a definitive tone poem of the title.

Remember Paul Desmond Pure Desmond and his sweet signatory embouchure profiling his tone? Well the piano as played here by Dave Brubeck atavistically ordains resemblance. A truly beautiful CD. A must have CD if you enjoy piano.

The imbecilic rubes might assign a moniker of smooth Jazz or the like. This is not the case. This CD is an etude, an excursion of the soul. January 8, 2008

Brubeck

A great Dave Brubeck CD. I have followed him from the 60's. This is a nice mellow CD. January 1, 2008

sweet and bittersweet. ghosts in the chords

Very personal Solo piano renditions of standards, the jacket shows all, very very autumnal music from a man well in to the autumn of his life. Sweet and Bittersweet, full of memories, even ghosts of autumns past. Elegaic. He uses more slow dark chords on these standards than I've ever heard from him in his more Pop albums. Sounds almost like Thelonious Monk in places, minors, diminished minor 7ths, 9ths, 13th's, whatever, he hangs these dark chords out these and sometimes he resolves them into the majors they were written in and sometimes he doesn't. It is between wrong note and really clever. Very well recorded solos so these chords hang in the frosty autumn air. Slow tempos.

Dave Brubeck has outlived them all. He was a contemporary of Cool Jazzmen Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, not to mention his wonderful alto sax man Paul Desmond, etc. Clean living, I guess. While his contemporaries were shooting drugs and/or guzzling booze, Brubeck was drinking milk and going home early to his wife of many years. Raising a family. So he's still with us and to my ear has done one of the most involving albums I've heard from him in more than a decade.


It is as if he was remembering his whole life. And the ghosts are just beyond reach. Brubecks new CD is really thoughful and late night.
Elevator music, huh?? He has spent more time agonizing over each note and chord he plays than I have ever heard.

paritularly good are the Impressionistic September Song, and Spring is Here, and the dark So Lonely.

resonates with listeners who feel that Jazz should be melodic, original and thoughtful need not be frenetic or noisy.

highly recommended November 26, 2007

Wow! Absolutly Beautiful

I've been a Brubeck fan for a lot of years. I was hooked when I got a copy of "Jazz at Oberlin"... still one of my favorites. But this album is different... and it is absolutly beautiful. This is Brubeck in a very pensive, reflective mood. When you listen to this album you get a sense of serenity that you're coomfortably sitting in a room listening to one of the great jazz pianists of our time. The music is laid-back and the melodies and chords structures are a delight. If you want to relax quitely with some mello jazz... this is the album. November 6, 2007

Solo Brubeck in a reflective mood

By all rights Dave Brubeck shouldn't have made it to these sessions after his accident in a Tyler, TX hotel room, described in detail in the booklet notes. The resulting music, however, is beautiful and haunting -- mostly taken at slow tempo, with strong melodies giving way to classic Brubeck touches. There's not a song that runs over five minutes, each is a first take, and the program is presented in the order he recorded them over two days' time. There are a few originals scattered throughout, sounding like the classics that surround them. Considering the pain he was suffering (a week later he was in hospital awaiting surgery) this is a remarkable effort from the 86-year-old composer and pianist, and a solo performance that will be a quiet pleasure for fans. October 28, 2007

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