Dave Brubeck—”St Louis Blues” (1979)

When Alabama native William Christopher Handy (1873-1958) heard a fellow Afro-American singing the blues, he liked the style so much that from then on he decided to write composed blues music. In 1914, W.C. Handy wrote one of his most played tunes, “St. Louis Blues,“ performed here exactly 50 years later by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

From a “Jazz Pour Tous” RTBF broadcast in Liege, Belgium, on October 10, 1964. With the unmatched alto saxophone soloist Paul Desmond, fellow Californian pianist Dave Brubeck, Chicago-Born bassist Gene ”the Senator” Wright and drummer Joe Morello, then Bay Stater who convinced Paul Desmond to Try to compose a tune in 4/5 time, which became the million seller “Take Five.”

This high quality video clip, where the Dave Brubeck Quartet is captured at the pinnacle of its power, comes from the excellent “Jazz Icons” DVD series. This series includes discs from Adderley to Simone (for more details see Amazon).

Quincy Jones called the release of this DVD collection “the unearthing of a musical time capsule ... an audio-visual treasure trove of the music that changed the world. From an educational standpoint this series is a gift to our culture.”