This album from a 1967 gig in Vienna is a ringer, as it features Dave Brubeck’s classic quartet of Paul Desmond/as, Eugene Wright/b and Joe Morello/dr without its famed alto saxist (with reason given in the liner notes). So, what do you do if you’re a jazz quartet without a lead voice? Improvise, of course as a trio, and Brubeck with his team does so adroitly.
This was the last year that the band was together, as it turned out, so these guys knew each other by ESP at this stage. And, while Desmond was usually the star of the team, and Brubeck was at times considered a “square”, this gig serves as an opportunity to show how creative and “out” he could be. His ectomorphic chords swing hard on “St. Louis Blues” and he digs in like a man on a chain gang on “Swanee River”, showing gentility and grace on “La Paloma Azul”. Morello and Wright gracefully waltz through “Someday My Prince Will Come” and the bassist gets a chance in the spotlight on a striding “One Moment Worth Years”. If you’re a Morello fan, you’re gonna have a great time with this disc, as he’s right there for you, and he’s in an exuberant mood, kinetically ricocheting on a fun and thrilling “Take the A Train”. Take Three!