Jazz Impressions of Japan

Jazz Impressions of Japan

by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Overview

Thirteen years into their tenure, the Dave Brubeck Quartet was still able to mine the creative vein for new means of expression. Despite the hits and popularity on college campuses, or perhaps because of it, Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright, and Joe Morello composed a restless band with a distinctive sound. These eight tracks, all based on a tour of Japan the year before, were, in a sense, Brubeck fulfilling a dictum from his teacher, the French composer Darius Milhaud, who exhorted him to "travel the world and keep your ears open." The sketches Brubeck and Desmond created all invoke the East, particularly the folk melodies of Japan directly, while still managing to use the Debussian impressionistic approach to jazz that kept them riding the charts and creating a body of music that, while playing into the exotica craze of the moment, was still jazz composed and played with integrity. The gorgeous modal blues that uses Eastern scale whole tones with Western harmonic notions -- chromatically -- that comprise the melody and solo frameworks for Desmond in "Fujiyama" are a beautiful contrast to the relatively straight-ahead ballad style featured on "Zen Is When," with its 4/4 time sling rhythm and simple melody -- extrapolated by Brubeck in purely Japanese whole tone scale on the harmony. Also, the shimmer and whisper of "The City Is Crying," where Desmond's solo is one of the most beautiful of his career, using arpeggios as half tones to reach down into the middle of his horn's register and play harmonically a counterpoint that is as painterly as it is poignant. On "Osaka Blues," Brubeck once again reaches for an oriental scale to play a modal blues à la Miles Davis with Wynton Kelly; Desmond responds by playing straight post-bop Bluesology with even a squeak or two in his solo. In all, Jazz Impressions of Japan is one of the great forgotten Brubeck records. Its sweetness is tempered with musical adventure and the improvisational experience only a band that had been together 13 years could provide. It's truly wonderful.

Product Details

Release Date: 10/05/2010
Label: Imports
UPC: 0886974919520
catalogNumber: 949343

Tracks

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dave Brubeck Quartet   Primary Artist,Track Performer
Dave Brubeck   Piano
Paul Desmond   Alto Saxophone
Joe Morello   Drums
Eugene Wright   Bass

Technical Credits

Dave Brubeck   Composer,Liner Notes
Didier C. Deutsch   Reissue Producer
Russell Gloyd   Reissue Producer
Teo Macero   Producer
Fred Plaut   Engineer
Robert Waller   Engineer
Darcy Proper   Reissue Producer
Randall Martin   Reissue Design
Stacey Boyle   Tape Research
Dianne Spoto Shattuck   Packaging Manager

Customer Reviews

Average Review

Write a Review

Share This Item

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

See All Customer Reviews

Jazz Impressions of Japan 4.5 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 2 reviews.
Guest More than 1 year ago
If by chance you have stumbled upon this album, don't dismiss it as one of those gift-shop shelf world music albums! This album is an overlooked classic in jazz music. What Brubeck and his quartet deliver here is a true set of musical paintings, impressions of scenes and emotions, even charachters. The reason it works so well is because of Brubeck's own love of the culture. He approaches the music with a japanese ethic of simplicity that works well with the quartet's sophisticated style. His playing is beautifully organic on Fujiyama, complementing Desmonds masterful solo. Tracks like Tokyo Traffic and The City Is Crying showcase the band at thier best, and along with these song's great interplay, they add some musical textures that jazz often overlooks (Of special interest, the bass work on the City Is Crying). The crowning acheivment of this album, though, is the use of Japanese scales and modes in the mystical Koto Song. Brubeck seems to weave around them effortlessy, creating a restlessly mysterious scene, not unlike an impressionist painter. The song was a concert favourite of Brubeck's, and it's one of my personal favourite tracks. Any Brubeck fan should have got this years ago. Any lover of music should get it now.
Anonymous More than 1 year ago