Dave Brubeck: Nocturnes (2006)

The cover of this disc of short piano pieces by Dave Brubeck is doubly misleading. Few (if any) of these works were designated as nocturnes when they were first composed; the title was given to 24 of the 26 pieces when they were published as a set in 1997. Nor were they part of any category applied by Brubeck himself. They span a period from about 1940 ("Lullaby," which Brubeck wrote for his future wife Iola when both were students at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, CA) to the early 2000s. And while many of them are ... Read More

The cover of this disc of short piano pieces by Dave Brubeck is doubly misleading. Few (if any) of these works were designated as nocturnes when they were first composed; the title was given to 24 of the 26 pieces when they were published as a set in 1997. Nor were they part of any category applied by Brubeck himself. They span a period from about 1940 ("Lullaby," which Brubeck wrote for his future wife Iola when both were students at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, CA) to the early 2000s. And while many of them are slow and lyrical enough to fall under the nocturne label, all kinds of moods and programs are represented: there are Mexican- and Japanese-flavored pieces, works written for personal and familial uses, works dedicated to other musicians, and so on. In short, what's contained here is not a set of nocturnes by Dave Brubeck but merely some pages from his notebook, mostly lasting just a minute or two in performance. And as such, they're quite attractive and offer insights into the... Read Less