Dave Brubeck Trio & Gerry Mulligan - Blues Roots

180g audiophile vinyl reissue, remastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London. Although this is a blues-oriented set, there is plenty of variety in tempos and grooves. The 1968 Quartet featured the leader/pianist, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, bassist Jack Six and drummer Alan Dawson. The repertoire on this LP ranges from Limehouse Blues (which is not really a blues) to Things Ain't What They Used to Be and several originals.These songs are average for 1968, but the soloing is remarkable and the musicians here are some of the best. Journey is a remarkably beautiful piano ballad, while Blues Roots narrowly rises above in it's epic scope, and over-the-top ending. It's probably my favourite song here. But, Broke Blues is also exceptional. This one, along with Cross Ties and Blues Roots, are fairly progressive, drawing as much from post bop as blues and traditional Jazz, pushing toward avante-garde. - G.Skate/S YannowThe recording and Pure Pleasure's pressing are remarkably good for the vintage, with great bandwidth, dynamics and instrument resolution. You can easily follow each of the four musicians even when things get lively, but this is the appeal really, having highly capable musicians applying themselves to a style that is as Brubeck suggests in his roots. - ***** Jason Kenenndy, Hi Fi Choice