Near Myth

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Near Myth
Studio album by Dave Brubeck & Bill Smith

Publication
(s)

1961

Label (s) Fantasy Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

West Coast Jazz , Cool Jazz

Title (number)

10

running time

43:42

occupation
chronology
Dave Brubeck:
Tonight Only!
(1960)
William O. Smith:
String Quartet / Capriccio for Violin & Piano / Suite for Violin & Clarinet (1958)
Near Myth Dave Brubeck:
Time Further Out (Miro Reflections)
(1960)

The Bill Smith Quartet:
Folk Jazz
(1961)

Near Myth is a jazz album by the Dave Brubeck quartet with clarinetist and composer Bill Smith . The recordings, which were made on March 20, 1961, were released as a long-playing record on Fantasy Records in 1961 and on Original Jazz Classics as a compact disc in 1995 .

background

Near Myth was the third and final guest appearance of clarinetist Bill Smith in place of Paul Desmond with the Dave Brubeck Quartet . Smith had already played Octet with Dave Brubeck in 1946 ; Like the pianist, Smith also studied with the French composer Darius Milhaud . In August 1959 he worked on Brubeck's quartet album The Riddle (with Eugene Wright and Joe Morello ), in May / June 1960 on the follow-up album Brubeck a la Mode , for which he also contributed almost all of the compositions. Like the earlier recording dates, the 1961 Near Myth session focuses exclusively on Smith's compositions, resulting in a very different sound for the band than the normal mix of songs and standards on Brubeck's regular recordings, Ken Dryden wrote in Allmusic .

Music of the album

This album reflects Smith's exploration with advanced techniques, as it uses multiphonics on one piece and flutter on another, wrote Rachel Yoder (2010). In “Siren Song” Smith uses a mute function to enable him to play any extreme altissimo notes. Even more interesting are the techniques Smith used to create the musical entity in Near Myth . The four-note opening motif reappears throughout the album, and there are different motivic connections between successive tracks . Dave Brubeck noted, 'Bill Smith has always shown a strange, but not necessarily incompatible, mix of whimsy and intellectualism '. New Myth is an example of Smith's ability to bring his classical influence to jazz and achieve a cohesive musical result.

Track list

Dave Brubeck on arrival at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 1964. Photo: Jac de Nijs
  • Dave Brubeck Quartet / Brubeck-Smith: Near Myth (Fantasy 3319)

A1 The Unihorn 5:13
A2 Bach An 'All 3:49
A3 Siren Song 5:35
A4 Pan's Pipes 4:10
A5 By Jupiter 3:54

B1 Baggin 'the Dragon 6:46
B2 Apollo's Ax 3:19
B3 The Sailor & the Mermaid 4:13
B4 Nep-Tune 2:51
B5 Pan Dance 3:35

reception

The Billboard wrote in its issue of 13 November 1961 in a short review: "Another bright and tasteful set of a few old friends Jazz"; Most of the tracks “have a light, easy swing”.

Ken Dryden gave the album four stars in Allmusic and wrote: “Smith is very much in Desmond's league with his funny solos and equally amusing liner notes filled with puns . While none of these songs became an integral part of Brubeck's repertoire, even after Smith replaced tenorist Jerry Bergonzi as a member of the quartet in 1982 , this is certainly the best of the three albums he made between the late 50s and early 60s with Dave Brubeck has made."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  2. Rachel Yoder: The Compositional Style of William O. Smith - A Research Project Submitted for the Doctor of Musical Arts Qualifying Examination (2010). Rachel Yoder Clarinet, February 3, 2020, accessed March 7, 2020 .
  3. Dave Brubeck Quartet / Brubeck-Smith: Near Myth at Discogs
  4. ^ Billboard Nov. 13, 1961