pjw, there is no “best” drummer. Awards of that kind are nice and all, but can’t possibly be a definitive statement of “best” anything. An obviously subjective, not to mention, narrow call. Obviously a great drummer, and I would say he was probably the “best” drummer for Brubeck’s quartet. Could Joe Morello have been as effective as Elvin Jones in Trane’s quartet? No way. Just as Elvin Jones’ style would have sounded completely wrong playing “Take Five” WITH BRUBECK’S QUARTET.
The success of Brubeck’s best known records owes a lot to the great combination of players with similar musical sensibilities. I can’t imagine some of Brubeck’s best known music without the drumming style of Morello nor Desmond’s alto sound.
I would say Brubeck owes a good amount of his deserved popularity to his sidemen and would probably have been the first to say it. When Brubeck made it on the cover of TIME Duke Ellington himself knocked on Brubeck’s hotel room door to congratulate him. Brubeck said “It should have been you”.
The success of Brubeck’s best known records owes a lot to the great combination of players with similar musical sensibilities. I can’t imagine some of Brubeck’s best known music without the drumming style of Morello nor Desmond’s alto sound.
I would say Brubeck owes a good amount of his deserved popularity to his sidemen and would probably have been the first to say it. When Brubeck made it on the cover of TIME Duke Ellington himself knocked on Brubeck’s hotel room door to congratulate him. Brubeck said “It should have been you”.