Devialet Lost Recordings Dave Brubeck Quartet

That evening of October 1967, the Dave Brubeck Quartet were more than just a jazz band. They were the great ambassadors of American music in Europe. Take your seats for one of the last concerts ever performed by this legendary quartet. Revived for the very first time. Deeply memorable.

October 24 1967. The Dave Brubeck Quartet, starring more or less the same line-up since starting out, had now been together for 16 years. By this stage, they were more than well acquainted. That evening, live from the Kurhaus in Scheveningen – Paul probably downing his fourth whiskey and smoking his 40th cigarette, Dave his usual abstemious self – they opened with Three to Get Ready, establishing their close-knit dynamic in a matter of bars. Dave set the tone for the ballad while Joe held the rhythm; Paul built a sultriness that drove the audience into a whole new dimension.

There is certainly magic in this live performance – just hear the laughter, the interjections, the very life of it. With 'La Paloma Azul', a children’s song that Paul and Dave had brought back from Mexico only a few months earlier, the mood changed: gentle, clear and caressing. It is one of their early performances of this piece, and a privilege to hear. After this tender interlude came unabashed laughter, hammered out by Dave’s disruptive fingerwork in 'Cielito Lindo', and a light-hearted nod with 'Swanee River'. 'Forty Days', a Hollywood-worthy oratorio, featured biblical references and themes from the great blockbusters – Exodus, Alamo and maybe even a few others. That night, the Dave Brubeck Quartet brought the walls between cultures crashing down.

09 Someday My Prince Will Come

08 Take Five

07 Rude Old Man

06 Blues For Joe

05 Forty Days

04 Swanee River

03 Cielito Lindo

02 La Paloma Azul

01 Three to Get Ready