Back in March of 2021, I had the incredible opportunity to talk with George Wein, jazz impresario and creator of the Newport Jazz Festival. I specifically talked to him about Dave Brubeck and his quartet, a subject he was more than happy to discuss. This is the last half of that interview. If you missed [...]
After talking about this interview for a few months, the Raggy Waltz staff has finally gotten around to transcribing and editing it, and now presents the first of two posts of my conversation with Mr. George Wein. After the conversation was over, Mr. Wein told me that he enjoyed talking about Dave Brubeck, and to [...]
Today is 5/4, aka Brubeck Day! While technically speaking, 5/4 Day should really be about Paul Desmond, since he was the one that wrote the 5/4 song that went to stardom, "Take Five" has become synonymous with the Dave Brubeck Quartet as a whole. As a result, we here at Raggy Waltz HQ always like [...]
Updated November 2021: Three days ago, November 25th, would've been the great late Paul Desmond's 97th birthday. A new post in honor of Mr. Desmond will show up here in the near future, but in the mean time, here's an older post from three years ago featuring some rare photography taken by Paul Desmond himself. [...]
I love when my different hobbies and interests intersect. Sometimes, this happens in pretty blatant ways, like my love of jazz colliding with my love of birds a la Charlie 'Bird' Parker. Occasionally, though, the overlap is more subtle and on a deeper level. Take Ivy, for instance. Ivy League style, that is. Mealtime at [...]
Yesterday, October 26th, the world of comedy lost one of its more original and trailblazing members when Mort Sahl passed away. At 94 years old, he had certainly seen a lot, and his acerbic wit and style of comedy was directed not only at daily observations and absurdities but at political figures. From the beginning [...]
To answer a question no doubt on many of your minds, no, this blog has not slipped into inactivity. This despite nary a peep from yours truly in months. Not to get too personal, but working as a nurse (on night shift, no less) during the past couple of years has been an experience, to [...]
Building off of the success from the previous year, 1955 was a year of continued growth. The Brubeck Quartet continued their numerous club appearances while simultaneously touring college campuses. Although signed to Columbia Records, Brubeck still had obligations to Fantasy Records. Fantasy thus continued to release "new" material from the Brubeck group, much of it [...]
If 1953 was a banner year for the Brubeck quartet, 1954 was a year seismic proportions. Having left the independent record label Fantasy for industry-giant Columbia Records at the beginning of the year, Brubeck was ready for big leagues. In November of 1954, America met the Dave Brubeck Quartet after Time Magazine featured Brubeck on [...]
1953 was a banner year for the Brubeck Quartet. Their popularity on college campuses exploded and Brubeck and Desmond were quickly becoming jazz stars. The group recorded two of the best live albums in their voluminous discography. 1953 also saw another personnel change in the band with the exit of bassist Wyatt Ruther and the [...]
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