Dave Brubeck Quartet

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier
8:00pm

This town loves 85 year-old Dave Brubeck. There was a standing ovation for him as soon as he stepped out on stage. While he's a bit slow to cross the stage to the piano, once he's seated at the high backed chair (the only visible concession to his age) his fingers fly across the keyboard.

Altogether there must have been over 200 years of jazz playing experience on stage. Playing with Dave are his current quartet of Randy Jones (drums), Bobby Militello (alto saxophone, flute), and Michael Moore (bass). They are all seniors with Dave being the most senior.

The concert was mostly Dave's originals. He charmed the audience with the story behind the title song off his latest album London Flat, London Sharp. The promoter had no sense of world geography and booked Dave on a whirlwind tour consisting of three trips to Europe with San Diego and Philadelphia in between. He was no better with English geography, sending Dave out on a crisscrossing bus tour of England. Dave's complaints about the bus accommodations lead to the rental of a flat in London which was much nicer than the bus but resulted in hours long drives to and from the venues. So it was back on the bus for the band.

The show ended off with Brubeck's timeless classic Take Five, and the crowd gave him a long standing ovation. We managed to get two encores out of the band. The first was a lullaby–a gentle musical joke to tell the audience it's time for old musicians to get to bed. The second encore was Strayhorn's Take the A Train. Despite another protracted standing ovation the lights went up, and the musicians could finally get some well deserved rest.