EP 9. When Jazz Went to College and Symphonic Music Halls. It wasn't always easy. Two new albums from Dave Brubeck

As WWII was drawing to a close in the mid 1940s America’s musical taste was changing and along with it musical venues were going through an upheaval. Dance halls and ballrooms saw audiences abandon once crowded dance floors for a listening experience. But by the 1950s music and venues were changing again. Music in general, and jazz in particular was seen as more sophisticated thanks in part to magazines like Esquire. Therefore jazz stated moving to college campuses and even the most discerning and storied classical music halls.

The jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and his wife Iola Brubeck were amongst those driving that change. But it was not always a smooth road ahead. There were few places in America that were more integrated than jazz groups in the 1940s and 50s. And therefore that road had more than a few speed bumps and potholes. The Brubecks found that out when they tried to schedule a concert tour of 25 Southern colleges in 1960—with an integrated band.

A recent album from Brubeck Editions, Live From The Northwest, 1959 recorded in Portland Oregon added another college concert to the four college concert albums the Dave Brubeck Quartet had previously released. Ironically this concert was in effect a rehearsal for that Southern colleges tour. Additionally from Brubeck Editions there is Live From Vienna 1967 from the Quartet’s final European tour featuring the Dave Brubeck Trio at the famed Vienna Konzerthaus. Trio? I bet you thought they were a quartet? It created a unique concert experience. And both albums are part of really interesting stories that tell us a lot about jazz, culture and history.