By KIRSTEN BOLTON
FOR ARTSPRING
Dave Brubeck’s game-changing 1959 album Time Out is an American masterpiece of “west coast cool jazz” that resonates to this day. The odd time signatures, improvised counterpoint and innovative tempos of his quartet’s work sound as fresh and hip today as they did then.
The sound was known for Paul Desmond’s poetic alto saxophone. Blended with Brubeck’s muscular piano playing and the driving rhythm section of Eugene Wright, bass, and Joe Morello, drums, the musical totality is flawless.
On Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at ArtSpring, just in time for Valentine’s Day, the Tom Keenlyside Quartet plays the entire iconic Time Out album live, along with other Brubeck gems, to the delight of classic jazz enthusiasts and those who are jazz curious.
With a musical career spanning six decades, jazz flutist and saxophonist Keenlyside has been called a “Canadian jazz legend” and “a musician’s musician.” He has performed and recorded with dozens of international artists, from Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr. and Dizzy Gillespie to Gord Downie, Michael Bublé and Oscar Peterson.
Inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2006, Vancouver-born Keenlyside distinctly remembers the morning he was 13 years old and ascended his friend Tony’s stairs to meet him for another amble to school in 1964. The front door was open, and Tony’s mother was playing a record: Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
“From its first saxophone notes, I was instantly hooked,” said Keenlyside. “I knew in that moment that music was what I was going to do for the rest of my life, though I had no idea if it would generate an income.”
Flash forward and, judging by all accounts, his instincts were correct. Keenlyside leads his all-star Juno-nominated band — including legendary Miles Black on piano, Miles Hill on bass and Dave Robbins on drums — through all the swing standards of the day in this night of unforgettably catchy jazz.
Brubeck was designated a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress. After early appearances on college campuses in the ‘50s and ‘60s and appearing in jazz clubs with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Charlie Parker, it came as a surprise that his experimental Time Out would emerge as the first jazz album to sell over one million copies. It continues to be performed live and appear on jukeboxes throughout the world.
Thank you to Victoria Olchowecki for sponsoring this performance.
Tickets are going fast and can be purchased through ArtSpring, online and at the box office.