One Alone
Composer and pianist Dave Brubeck has (along with saxophonistPaul Desmond) given us some memorable jazz hits like "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo a La Turk." Even though he mostly worked in combos, he recorded four solo piano recordings in his six-decade career:Brubeck Plays Brubeck;Brubeck Plays and Plays and Plays;Just You, Just Me, andA Dave Brubeck Christmas.One Aloneis an excellent addition to those aural gems, marked by Brubeck's flowing and logical right-hand lines and steady left-hand walking basslines. He polishes off 13 compositions, most of them show tunes from the 1930s and '40s, ranging fromGeorge Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me" toHarold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow," and the introspective title track bySigmund Romberg. Brubeck pays homage to theDuke Ellingtoncanon with his stridish swing on "Just Squeeze Me" and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be." The pianist also revisits his own tunes, the moody "Summer Song" and the heartbreaking "Weep No More"--written in 1945--with the romance and melodic resonance that could only come from a master of American music, which Dave Brubeck most certainly is.--Eugene Holley Jr.