Album Review: The Dave Brubeck Octet (1956)

Album cover of The Dave Brubeck Octet, with cover art by Arnold Roth, who did many covers for the Fantasy jazz label, 1956.

One of the only photographs of the Dave Brubeck Octet in concert. Paul Desmond is second from the left, Cal Tjader is on the drums, and Brubeck is in the back, at the piano.

Recorded between 1946 and 1950, the 18 tracks on the album The Dave Brubeck Octet offers up the fruits of the very first recording sessions that Dave Brubeck participated in. The 18 tracks were issued in different formats during the early 1950’s, and then in 1956 combined into one 12-inch LP, featuring the same track listing found on the CD. 

The Dave Brubeck Octet was comprised of composers and musicians who would go on to have a significant impact on jazz music in the 1950’s and beyond. The Octet was: Brubeck on piano, Bob Collins on baritone saxophone, David Van Kriedt on tenor sax, Dick Collins on trumpet, Bill Smith on clarinet, credited on this release as William O. Smith, Jack Weeks on bass, Cal Tjader on drums, and an alto sax player named Paul Desmond. Brubeck had met Desmond when they were both in the Army, and they would go on to play together, off and on, but mostly on, until Desmond’s death in 1977. 

Brubeck had studied music at the College of the Pacific and at Mills College, and had managed to get through his studies without learning how to read music. The dean at College of the Pacific told Brubeck that he couldn’t let him graduate without learning how to read music. But several professors stuck up for Brubeck’s talents, and COP let him graduate as long as he promised not to teach music. 

Many members of the Octet had studied under the French composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College, and they shared an interest in polytonality and counterpoint. The Dave Brubeck Octet is an interesting record—it has at least a surface similarity to Miles Davis’ nonet recordings of the late 1940’s, released under the title Birth of the Cool. Both recordings were influenced by classical music, but where Birth of the Cool has gained considerable critical acclaim, the recordings by Brubeck’s Octet have languished in obscurity. 

About half of the songs on the Octet album are lightly swinging versions of jazz standards, “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Love Walked In,” “Let’s Fall in Love,” “You Go to My Head.” In part because of the limitations of recordings of the time, almost all of the tracks are three minutes or less, so there’s not a lot of solo space. One of the more interesting songs on the album is “How High the Moon,” which the group plays in various different jazz styles, taking it from Dixieland to bebop, with an uncredited narrator guiding us through the different styles. On that song the listener is able to hear the versatility of the group. Brubeck’s piano playing is smoother than it would be with his famous Quartet—we don’t hear much of the block chords that would be one of his trademarks later on, although some crop up on his solo on “Laura,” a tune that Brubeck would soon re-record with his trio of Ron Crotty on bass and Cal Tjader on drums. 

What’s interesting about the Octet for fans of Brubeck’s music is how early he was interested in polytonality, which would be one of the musical subjects that he returned to again and again throughout his career. 

On The Dave Brubeck Octet we also get to hear Brubeck’s debut as a composer. He wrote three songs on the album: “Playland-at-the-Beach,” “Rondo,” and “Closing Theme.” Interestingly, Brubeck doesn’t play the piano on either “Playland-at-the-Beach” or “Rondo,” which both sound like exercises written for the classroom. 

The Dave Brubeck Octet isn’t quite essential Dave Brubeck, but it’s worth listening to if you’re interested in learning more about Brubeck’s roots, or if you’re a fan of West Coast jazz or Third Stream jazz.