LIVE FROM THE NORTHWEST, 1959

Brubeck Editions is thrilled to announce the release of The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Live From The Northwest, 1959.

This collection of recordings from two electrifying concerts is a celebration of the iconic Quartet’s singular sound and stellar output in the 1950’s. The legendary Mr. Brubeck’s pianistic refrains dance with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond’s fluid melodic invention, and the steadfast rhythm section made up of bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello offers the perfect balance of support and rhythmic invention.

The album was released as a CD on November 3, and will be released on November 24, digitally, and as a special edition Record Store Day LP.

Read the full Press Release here.

Who was Wally Heider??

The new release  from Brubeck Editions is a sonic tribute to the legendary recording engineer, Wally Heider. He grew up in the Portland area of Oregon and was a jazz enthusiast, playing sax in the High School band and listening to the likes of Stan Kenton and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In his college years he realized that as much as he loved jazz, he did not have the innate skills and talents to make a go of being an accomplished performer. However he wanted to be involved in the creation of music and made moves to learn how to capture the music he loved. After moving down to L.A. to apprentice with a well known recording engineer, Wally felt ready to venture into the relatively unexplored territory of live, remote recording.

Armed with an Ampex 350-2  two track tape recorder, 2 high quality Telefunken Model U-47s Microphones, plus additional equipment, he loaded up his station wagon and in April 1959 headed to the Northwest to try to capture the sound of the red-hot  Dave Brubeck Quartet. He wanted to tape the group in the environment of a live venue and was able to do so at the famous Multnomah Hotel in Portland. There, he recorded 4 sets over two nights. You can hear the tinkle of ice in the drinks, muted conversations along with the enthusiastic applause and most importantly the incredible playing. The DBQ had played in Jazz Clubs for years so there was a certain comfort zone to be found in that environment. It was less formal, and I suspect hearing how loose the band sounds back in April 1959, they may have had a drink or two during the course of the evening. In the case of Paul Desmond that is no surprise, but for my Dad to have a drink at all would be a rarity. So this is an educated guess, but I would say Dad had a “taste" and it inspired him to let his guard down a bit, relax and go with the flow. Hence, you hear him singing along with his solo excursions, which after doing hundreds of gigs with him over the years, I know is a rare occurrence.Thankfully Heider caught all the sparkling musical ideas flying between Dad and Paul. He also got a terrific bass and drum sound which provided the swinging foundation for all the tunes.

Heider also recorded a concert at Clark College the next day, and that was a pristine acoustical environment, no conversations or bar sounds, just sensational music. But Heider was such a fine engineer, and his microphone choices and placement were so on target that the club and concert hall recordings are sonically compatible. He created a sample reel for Columbia Records producer Irving Townsend, hoping that his efforts would lead to a live recording release of the DBQ on Columbia Records. For reasons unknown to me that didn’t happen and the group went on to record “Gone With The Wind” in the studio shortly after these April dates. In the summer of 1959 they started the sessions for Time Out.

In 1969 later Heider turned his talents into building a great studio in San Francisco where he was at the heart of the emerging  Rock ‘n Roll  scene. He engineered many landmark sessions for Crosby, Stills and Nash; Jefferson Airplane; Steve Miller; Creedence  Clearwater Revival, the Grateful Dead, and many other groups that were part of creating the "San Francisco sound." Years later the world-wide smash Herbie Hancock LP, “Headhunters” was recorded in Heider’s famous studio. Heider's legacy extends into another generation of Brubecks because my group, Sky King, went into his studio in 1975 to make a live recording of our touring show. It had a lot of jazzy improvisation over a hotbed of funk and fusion.

The new Brubeck Editions recording, “Live from the Northwest, 1959” represents a legendary engineer immortalizing  Paul Desmond, Joe Morello, Eugene Wright and Dave Brubeck  playing at their peak.