Dave Brubeck

When Ralph J. Gleason asked Dave Brubeck to appear on his television series Jazz Casual, in 1961, it was only natural; not only was the Dave Brubeck Quartet one of the most popular jazz combos in the world at that time and a favorite at clubs in San Francisco, but both Dave Brubeck and his featured alto sax player Paul Desmond were Bay Area natives (Brubeck was born in Concord, Desmond in Berkely). This episode features the quartet performing Paul Desmond's 1961 jazz classic "Take Five." This lineup of the quartet, with Brubeck on piano, Desmond on alto szx, "Senator" Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello on drums, was considered by many, including Gleason and Brubeck, himself, to be the best of the Brubeck Quartet lineups to date.