Jazz Goes to College

Jazz Goes to College
Live album by Dave Brubeck as The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Released June 7, 1954
Recorded Early 1954
Genre Jazz
Length 51:46
Label Columbia
CL 566
Producer George Avakian
Dave Brubeck as The Dave Brubeck Quartet chronology
Paul and Dave's Jazz Interwoven
1954
Jazz Goes to College
(1954)
Brubeck Time
(1955)
Original LP Cover
Alternate LP Cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

Jazz Goes to College is a 1954 album documenting the North American college tour of The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Joining Brubeck are Paul Desmond, Bob Bates and Joe Dodge, whose support All Music calls "uniformly flawless" in a "perfect representation" of the quartet's early work.[2] The album was re-released on CD and cassette under the Columbia imprint in 1991 and on CD by Sony International in 2000.

Contents

History

The college tour, in which the group crossed the country visiting major universities and junior colleges, was conceived by Brubeck's wife Iola as a way to introduce jazz to a new audience.[3] Brubeck described encountering resistance at the colleges, some of which were reluctant to allow him to perform, but found following initial forays that the quartet was in much demand.[3] As the quartet traveled across the country, he told the Jazz Education Journal, they would play as many as 90 colleges in a four month period.[3]

Following the album's release, the quartet was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, with the accompanying article describing Brubeck as "the most exciting new jazz artist at work today".[4] According to a 1972 Time article, the album enjoyed widespread popularity among college students in the 1950s and early 1960s.[5]

Similar albums were released in those days: Jazz at Oberlin and Jazz at the College of the Pacific in 1953, and Jazz Goes to Junior College in 1957.

Track listing

Location of recording included in parentheses following composer.

  1. "Balcony Rock" (Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond) (University of Michigan) – 11:55
  2. "Out of Nowhere" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman) (University of Cincinnati) – 8:04
  3. "Le Souk" (Brubeck, Desmond) (Oberlin College, Ohio) – 4:36
  4. "Take the 'A' Train" (Billy Strayhorn) (University of Michigan) – 6:10
  5. "The Song Is You" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) (University of Michigan) – 5:38
  6. "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) (University of Michigan) – 8:47
  7. "I Want to be Happy" (Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans) (University of Michigan) – 6:36

Track 3 recorded on April 14, 1954; track 4 on March 26 of the same year; recording dates of the remainder unknown.

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Allmusic
  3. ^ a b c García, Antonio J. (November 2001) Dave Brubeck: His music keeps us here Jazz Education Journal Accessed September 27, 2007.
  4. ^ Notre Dame's highest honor goes to musician Observer News. (May 19, 2006) Accessed September 27, 2007.
  5. ^ Poppa Dave Time Magazine. (September 11, 1972) Accessed September 27, 2007.