The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Newport 1958 (WaxTime)

Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo

EU-only 180gm vinyl LP pressing including digital download. The Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond, Gene Wright and Joe Morello had been together for about a year when the State Department hired them for a “goodwill” tour of Europe in early 1958. The group made the trip across the Atlantic and performed on two continents for audiences in England, Germany, Scotland, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Right after the tour, on July 3, 1958, Brubeck made his usual performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. What was unusual was the program, consisting mainly of Duke Ellington tunes or tunes closely related to the Duke’s band, like “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”, composed by Duke’s son Mercer Ellington, or “Flamingo”, a ballad that, although not composed by Ellington or any of his relatives, had been in the Duke’s repertoire since the early forties, usually as a feature for singer Herb Jeffries.