Jazz: Red Hot & Cool (Columbia 1955)
By Darius Brubeck
Studio albums for Columbia Records with the “Classic” quartet provide the core of Brubeck repertory material and secure his place in jazz history. This is music that my brothers and I and many others play, but Dave loved his “live” recordings. These he actually listened to with enjoyment. He was proud of his studio albums too but when they were done, he was done with them. Let’s consider the difference.
An advertisement for Helena Rubinstein "Jazz" Lipstick, featuring model and actress Suzy Parker and Dave Brubeck, 1955.
The cover photo for “Jazz: Red Hot & Cool” was taken by Richard Avedon at the “hungry i nightclub” in San Francisco in collaboration with the Helena Rubinstein cosmetics company. The lipstick, introduced in late 1954, inspired the album title. George Avakian, Brubeck’s longtime producer at Columbia Records, noted that customers who purchased the lipstick also received a copy of “Jazz Combo Tool” — a small six-inch, red-orange Columbia vinyl record (78 rpm) featuring excerpts from Eddie Condon and Turk Murphy on the “Jazz Combo Hot” side, and Pete Rugolo and Brubeck on the “Jazz Combo Cool” side.
Studio albums were explicitly themed: Dave Digs Disney, Jazz Impressions of… the USA, of Eurasia, of Japan, of New York and the famous “Time Series” that included the popular hits, “Take Five”, “Blue Rondo a la Turk”, and “Unsquare Dance” — tracks that are still familiar today. Good as they are, when one listens objectively to Time Out, it is clear they are experimental prototypes, templates for what would later become superior performances. These LPs are typical of a normal process understood by jazz musicians under contract to major labels: make a new album then promote it on tour with tour-support from the company in the form of radio and press coverage. Then make another one and go on the road again.
Then, as now, making an album means an end product is agreed on in advance. The two imperatives driving the process toward that goal are presenting repertoire (especially if original or new) and efficiency in the studio. Dave never forgot this. The record company’s imperative, overseen by a salaried producer was get it done, on time and on budget. The artist’s imperative was to showcase new material to motivate established fans to come to concerts again and draw in new listeners. This is how and why studio albums were made. None of this is bad: it’s just the way it was.
In light of such practical considerations, it is understandable why Dave’s “live albums” are different and usually better jazz, since the highest value in jazz (according to Dave) is spontaneous creation. Popular journalism contrasts “studio” and “live” in terms of no re-takes. But this is only to the amazement of writers who grew up in the pop-music era. Far more crucial is the relatively loose time constraints in live performance, a flexible and open setlist and audience response.
I’ve been listening to Jazz Red Hot & Cool for the last few days. This album was recorded live over three nights at Basin Street East in New York (my first night club when I was 9 years old). Unlike studio albums, this great album is not about the material at all. It’s not “about" anything. The actual track-listing on the LP is selected from many hours of performance, literally an afterthought. The beginnings and endings of songs reveal well-rehearsed routines, but the tunes could have been whatever the four played on the road. The improvisations are fluent, unique and fully developed, the less famous rhythm section of Bob Bates and Joe Dodge is swinging and always listening. I personally wish Dave hadn’t said “polytonality” in so many interviews but anyone curious about how he applied it will find the answer here.
As a coda, I would add that Dave was contractually committed to four albums a year during this period: three for Columbia and one for his former label Fantasy. Can anyone imagine that level of output now!
