Dave Brubeck: Blue Rondo à la Turk
Track
Blue Rondo à la Turk
Group
Dave Brubeck Quartet
CD
Time Out (Columbia/Legacy CK 65122)
Musicians:
Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass), Joe Morello (drums).
Composed by Dave Brubeck
.Recorded: New York, August 18, 1959
Rating: 97/100 (learn more)
Using Mozart's "Rondo Alla Turca" as a reference point, Brubeck adapts the 9/8 time signature that intrigued him during an Istanbul visit, and creates a driving enclosure for straight-ahead 4/4 blues solos by himself and Desmond. As with "Take Five" (Brubeck's hit 1961 single to which "Blue Rondo" served as flip side), simplification makes the experiment fun. As to what the blues have to do with Turkey, it's long been rumored that during the Turkish War of Independence, W.C. Handy proffered his "St. Louis Blues" as the Republic's national anthem. When Turks wisely chose instead the stirring İstiklâl Marşı (Independence March), Handy's "St. Louis Blues" was made the USA's national anthem, and is now sung perfunctorily before ballgames.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: blue rondo à la turk · odd time meters
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