Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck (2002)

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Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck (2002)

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It might not seem like much: 30 minutes, three tunes, four musicians on a bare-bones soundstage. But this is John Coltrane, and any opportunity to see the legendary saxophonist at work is something to be savored. That's especially true with this January 1964 television performance. Some five years after his membership in Miles Davis's immortal Kind of Blue group, he was well past playing the usual standards and ballads; at the same time, he had yet to explore the outer reaches of the avant-garde. Joined here by pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones–the classic Coltrane quartet, and undoubtedly one of the most important and influential groups in jazz history–he works his way through three numbers that were familiar components of the Coltrane repertoire: Mongo Santamaria's 'Afro Blue,' which finds Trane on soprano sax and features a typically dynamic Tyner solo; 'Alabama,' a Coltrane original with a brooding, droning intro and conclusion sandwiched around the middle section's slow, swinging groove; and 'Impressions,' the modal touchstone, which at nearly 14 minutes long gives all four musicians plenty of room to stretch out.On October 17, 1961, the popular and pioneering pianist-composer Dave Brubeck performed on Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual, the television show that showcased some of the finest jazz artists in a half-hour of no-frills performance and conversation. Backed by the Lester Young-influenced alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello, Brubeck and his combo perform some of their odd-metered hits. Desmond's dancing ditty, 'Take Five' is rendered in a faster tempo than the studio version. Brubeck's ragtime-flavored '(It's a) Raggy Waltz,' highlights his percussive piano lines, while 'Castillian Blues' and the Turkish strains of 'Blue Rondo a la Turk' reveal his multicultural, compositional genius.

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Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck (2002)

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Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck (2002)

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Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck (2002)

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Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck (2002)

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Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck (2002)

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