Milestones

Who is in the band on What It Is & What It Be Like?

Kenny Burrell's Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas is a good one.

Another fine record is Mighty Lights with Jane Ira Bloom.

I have always enjoyed Ed Blackwell. I loved his work with Ornette, though I also loved Billy Higgins--and then I found that Higgins played with everyone. Blackwell had considerably less visibility. I recently heard him on an early Don Cherry record, and then there's his work with Old and New Dreams (in effect, an Ornette alumni band). I know he played with Randy Weston, one of my all time favorite artists; but there seems no trace of them recording together. Late in life he appeared with Joe Lovano, Jay Hoggard, Ray Anderson, and some others--all good records made even better by his fine drumming. Please talk about your favorites.

I may have missed this, but any comments on the "Time" records? For instance, what is the best one to get after Time Out? I imagine some would say that is not necessarily the best of the series. It is, however, the only one I own.

Desmond had his thing, though I've never been much drawn to his work outside of Brubeck. I like hearing Dave with tenor or baritone, with guys who provide more bite on the sax.

I'm listening now to "Blues for Newport" (16-plus minutes), and, man, Dave, Gerry Mulligan, and the great Alan Dawson are just wailing.

Like many, I was kind of into Dave Brubeck early, then basically set him aside for years--even decades. Even today as I watched some footage of the quartet, I thought, "What a group of nerdy looking guys." But I certainly came back to Brubeck, really enjoying records like Young Lions and Old Tigers, with a knock-out array of guest artists including Lovano, Brecker, and Hargrove. There's a live set from Berlin in the 70s or maybe late 60s, with Gerry Mulligan--some astonishing stuff. Great stuff from Mr. Brubeck through his decades of quality work. "Blue Rondo" and "Take Five" are in everyone's consciousness (not just the the jazz folk), and you don't have to dig far to find gems like "Koto Song" and "Strange Meadowlark--beautiful songs never to be forgotten.