Brubeck: The Duke | The Dave Brubeck Quartet on “March of Dimes“ (1956)

The Dave Brubeck Quartet made a television appearance on “March of Dimes“ performing Dave’s tune “The Duke“, which they had recorded for the first time in 1955. Dave recalled: “The idea for ‘The Duke’ came to me when I was in the car, taking my son Chris to nursery school. The original title was: ‘The Duke Meets Darius Milhaud.’ When I first wrote it, I didn’t understand how complex it was. It goes through all twelve keys in the first eight bars. It hits all the roots. It could be the first jazz tune that does that. Gil Evans made a wonderful arrangement of this tune for Miles Davis. “One of the better-known critics wrote about that piece that it ‘had nothing to do with Ellington.’ I know he knows Ellington, but he doesn’t know the Ellington I know.“ Dave Brubeck (piano) Paul Desmond (alto sax) Joe Dodge (bass) Bob Bates (drums)