Classic Album Sundays
Telling the stories that shaped the records, Classic Album Sundays presented a session on ‘Time Out’ by Dave Brubeck as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.
Boasting themselves to be ‘the world’s most popular and respected classic album listening event’, Classic Album Sundays events are definitely a treat for music lovers, allowing for a more in-depth understanding into the music that has changed the trajectory of their genres and albums which stand as an epitome of their respective genres. Dave Brubeck’s ‘Time Out’ is an album that is certainly worthy of the titles iconic and timeless, as it pushed at the boundaries of conventionality of it’s time with it’s unusual time signatures and melodies, so it was only natural that there would be a Classic Album Sunday event dedicated to this album.
As part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, audience members were joined by host Colleen Murphy and Dave Brubeck’s son Darius Brubeck, and the duo provide plenty of back story and insight. Darius provides a unique point of view into the album, telling the audience of him and his father’s trip to Turkey which forever changed the way the album was going to turn out, and provided the inspiration behind the instantly recognisable rhythm in ‘Blue Rondo a la Turk’. Talking about his father’s innovation, Darius said, “He [Dave] wasn’t the first to do something, he was the first to understand something can be done”. Both Colleen and Darius were natural storytellers, and they hooked the audience with every word they said as shown by the hums of agreement and laughing.
It was certainly a delightful and enriching way to spend a Sunday afternoon, learning about an album that influenced the way jazz continued. With an album listening of ‘Time Out’ immediately following the discussion, you were able to lose yourself in the immersive experience. Everything that had been discussed immediately preceding the listening floated around your head, providing specific points of the album to listen out for whether that was the synchronisation of the bass with the drum kit in the 14 beat cycle of ‘Three to Get Ready’, or the drum solo at the beginning of ‘Take Five’ which was actually developed out of a practice exercise that Joe Morello was doing. Walking away with new knowledge and a new perspective, this is a Classic Album Sunday event that will stay with us for a long time.
Words by Athena Kam