(Chris Brubeck, guitars; Dan Brubeck, drums; Mike DeMicco, guitars; Chuck Lamb, piano & percussion; Guests: The Imani Winds – Valerie Coleman, flute; Monica Ellis, bassoon; Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe; Mariam Adam, clarinet; Jeff Scott, French horn)
Dave Brubeck’s sons Chris and Dan played with their father on and off for some time, and are now leading an acclaimed quartet which sometimes spans the classical and jazz genres just as their father (and uncle) have done. The first seven tracks of their new CD feature the compositions of all the quartet members, in a fresh-sounding straight-ahead jazz style. Some of the tunes seem to lean more toward the classical world than the funk/blues world; the quartet considers itself working in the “classical crossover” area. In fact, David Balakrishnan of the similarly-oriented Turtle Island Quartet mentions in his liner notes that the classical music scene is just beginning to recognize that “an accomplished jazz group is another valid form of chamber music with the extra dimension of improvisation.”
The classical crossover theme really comes to the fore in tracks 8 thru 10. Chris Brubeck has penned a three-movement suite titled Vignettes for Nonet, and engaged the Afro-American woodwind quintet The Imani Winds to join the quartet his innovative work. The Imani’s have also been doing their part to broaden the usual dimensions of classical chamber music, by collaborating with various jazz artists such as Wayne Shorter. Vignettes pushes some of the boundaries of chamber music in its three sections titled: Curious Expedition; Dunes at Dawn/Dromadaire Extraordinaire & Tales of the Bazaar. It reminded me of some similar crossover efforts of a half century ago, such as Johnny Richard’s Annotations of the Muses.
The album closes out with the entire aggregation’s fullblown version of the 9/8 time Blue Rondo a la Turk by Dave Brubeck. It’s a pleasure to be hearing such intelligent and creative efforts coming out under the aegis of classical crossover instead of the corny attempts some of the major labels have made in the past and still are pursuing.
TrackList: Good Question, Cool on the Coast, Eclipse, Dance of the Shadows, Heyoke, 7th Sense, Friends Beyond Time, Vignettes for Nonet Mvt. I, II, III; Blue Rondo a la Turk.
– John Henry
