Dave Brubeck

The restaurant is built to look like a train station and it was the first time I was there though I’d walked by it enough times. The table was outside and we had a parasol. We had a salad between us that no one was eating and a Corona each.

Is that a clarinet on Take Five, she asked me. No I said. An alto sax I believe. Looks like a clarinet, I said, showing off. (I was wrong though; it’s a soprano sax that looks like a clarinet, straight.)

I will probably never see her again. It was the only evening we spent together, though we ate lunch together nearly every day. I shared music with her, random stuff. And so maybe she wanted me to know that she actually listened to it, that she was paying attention.

This is Dave Brubeck’s Greatest Hits. Brubeck was one of those unusual jazz artists who actually put records into the top 100 (3 in his case) so the concept of “Greatest Hits” isn’t that off.

When Brubeck died, recently, I IM’d her. He was part of our history.

R.I.P.

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Dave Brubeck:

• Take Five – One of the most recognized jazz anthems, this was actually written by Brubeck sideman Paul Desmond, who plays the signature (alto) sax. Brubeck, as usual, plays piano. The song reached number 25 on Billboard in the fall of 1961. 
• I’m In A Dancing Mood
• In Your Own Sweet Way
• Camptown Races – Jazz version…
• Trolley Song – Judy Garland did this, but it sounded different.
• It’s A Raggy Waltz
• Bossa Nova, U.S.A. – Not to let Stan Getz outdo anyone. From the winter of 1963. 
• Unsquare Dance – How cool would it have been to have heard this on top 40 radio? From the winter of 1961 / 1962. 
• Blue Rondo A La Turk – Mozart.
• Theme From “Mr. Broadway”