Dave Brubeck’s rhythmic and tonal free-wheeling helped him become the epitome of 1950s and ’60s cool. We name his best recordings on disc:
Jazz at Oberlin (1953)
Fantasy Records OJC-31991-02
The first Dave Brubeck Quartet is in vintage form at a concert in the Finney Chapel at Oberlin College – a gig that cemented jazz’s life outside the nightclub.
Time Out (1959)
Columbia COLCK65122
The classic Quartet changed the course of jazz with an album that uses unconventional time signatures. The first jazz album to sell a million copies.
Brubeck & Rushing (1960)
Columbia G010000936053Z
The Quartet accompanies the great blues shouter Jimmy Rushing. Pure spontaneous delight, full of energy – and a personal Brubeck favourite.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall (1963)
Columbia C2K61455
The Quartet at a creative peak on a memorable occasion, described by many critics as one of the great live jazz albums of the 1960s.
Live at the Berlin Philharmonie (1970)
Legacy Records G010000913152B
A rousing new quartet uniting Dave Brubeck and star baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.