Brubeck à la mode is 1960 studio album by pianist Dave Brubeck and his quartet.[2][3]

Brubeck à la mode
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 1961
RecordedMay-June 1960
GenreJazz
LabelFantasy - 3301[1]
Dave Brubeck chronology
Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein
(1960)
Brubeck à la mode
(1961)
Brubeck and Rushing
(1960)

The album comprises compositions by the clarinetist Bill Smith; this was one of three albums that Brubeck and his quartet made with Smith.[3]

In Todd R. Decker's 2014 book Who Should Sing Ol' Man River?: The Lives of an American Song, Decker wrote that the album cover of Brubeck à la mode shows the "...smiling quartet sharing ice cream sodas at a picture-perfect ice cream fountain". Decker wrote how the cover frames the album within the context of the contemporaneous Civil Rights Movement; especially the Greensboro sit-ins and Nashville sit-ins which also took place at lunch counters.[4]

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings     [5]

Scott Yanow reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that "The music generally swings and there are some fine solos but none of the individual pieces are all that memorable".[3]

Billboard magazine reviewed the album in their January 16, 1961 issue and wrote that "The music is swinging, alive and comes from Smith's pen. Brubeck plays simply and movingly on these sides as do the members of his group."[6]

Track listing edit

All compositions by Bill Smith except otherwise noted:

  1. "Dorian Dance" – 3:28
  2. "Peace, Brother" (Eddie DeLange, Jimmy Van Heusen, Bill Smith) – 3:55
  3. "Invention" – 4:57
  4. "Lydian Line" – 5:25
  5. "Catch-Me-If-You-Can" – 1:45
  6. "Frisco Fog" – 6:01
  7. "The Piper" – 2:47
  8. "Soliloquy" – 3:26
  9. "One for the Kids" – 3:11
  10. "Ballade" – 3:58

Personnel edit

Technical

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Dave Brubeck - Brubeck à la mode at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Dave Brubeck Jazz - Brubeck à la mode". davebrubeckjazz.com. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Brubeck à la mode at AllMusic
  4. ^ Todd R. Decker (30 October 2014). Who Should Sing Ol' Man River?: The Lives of an American Song. Oxford University Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-19-938918-6.
  5. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. ^ "Jazz LP's: Strong Sales Potential". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 16 January 1961. p. 28. ISSN 0006-2510.