London Flat London Sharp
The release of this album coincides with Dave Brubeck turning 85. The ten songs offer a veritable tour through the whole of the pianist's strengths, both as a composer and an improviser. Recorded in 2004, he's working in his favored and most celebrated format, a quartet, with saxophonist Bobby Militello offering the melodic counterpoint to Brubeck's playing. The earliest number, "Ballad of the Rhine," was written in 1945 when Brubeck was in the army and stationed in Germany. It was inspired by the rhythms of the tanks and trucks crossing bridges over the Rhine. His writing has always been anchored by a rich background in classical music (he studied with the French composer Darius Milhuad). Far from being an album mired in twilight of nostalgia,London Flat, London Sharpproves that Dave Brubeck is still a formidable presence.--David Greenberger