Armed with alto and soprano sax, Mark Zaleski gives a tribute to the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond by exploring that songbook with a cast of Jon Bean/ts, Glenn Zaleski/p, Mark Cocheo/g, Danny Weller/b and Oscar Suchanek/dr. Vocalist Michael Mayo recites a moving poem on the dramatic “They Say I Look Like God”, which was part of Brubeck’s State Department tour which focused on race relations.
Zaleski’s tone is not similar enough to the dry martini of Paul Desmond to make any comparisons, and the arrangements are mostly quite different, like the rock beat with keyboards on “The Golden Horn” and the altoist reaching into the subtones over the clappings of the funky “Unsquare Dance”. Weller’s electric bass gets things blue and spacious along with Cocheo’s guitar on a loose as a goose “The Duke” while the team gives a familiar intro to “Blue Rondo a la Turk” before spinning free. I always wonder about the value of tributes, as opposed to just going to the original sources, but at least this points listeners in the right direction.