If, as so many do, you associate Dave Brubeck and his colleagues only with relentless excerpts from TAKE FIVE as telephone hold-music, you do him a disservice.
Thanks to saxophonist-scholar Jon De Lucia, I’ve had many opportunities to discover music by Brubeck, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Giuffre, Gerry Mulligan, Ted Brown, Warne Marsh, and others. The music Jon and friends study and offer is surprising and delightful: intricate yet impassioned tapestries of sound and texture.
I first encountered Jon at the fabled Brooklyn studio of Michael Kanan and Stephanie Greig, The Drawing Room, where his Octet was accompanying the wondrous saxophonist Ted Brown. This was in April 2016, and although some think (wrongly) that my musical tastes begin and end with ROYAL GARDEN BLUES, I was enthralled by his music.
In the intervening almost-decade, I’ve followed Jon and friends, sometimes this sleek Octet, sometimes ad hoc groups, sometimes a surprise sitting-in, and have always been delighted and restored by the music he creates, both himself and his groups, and his devout, careful, but never ostentatious scholarship.
Here’s a most recent example. Jon has been working on his doctorate, where his studies focus on the music of the Dave Brubeck Octet, which existed from 1949 to 1953. In previous concerts, he has worked from sometimes partial scores to reconstruct and reimagine music the Octet recorded. Here, as a result of deep archival study, he presented music never recorded, with apt compact commentary. This free concert was a prelude to Jon’s second recording of this music: out early in 2026. (Watch this space.)
Photographs by RSG Studios.
Jon De Lucia, leader, alto saxophone; Brandon Lee, trumpet; Becca Patterson, trombone; Jay Rattman, clarinet, baritone saxophone; Scott Robinson, tenor saxophone; Danny Fox, piano; Kevin Thomas, double bass; Keith Balla, drums.
Monday, December 8, 2025, at the CUNY Graduate Center: HAPPY IN LOVE / GOODNIGHT EILEEN / I WANT TO BE HAPPY / FUGUE TWO / TEA FOR TWO / STARDUST / HOW ABOUT YOU? / CHORALE / LULLABY IN RHYTHM / MY HEART / PERDIDO:
“Cerebral,” but never cold: full of energy, wit, precision, and power. Warm music for a very chilly night.
Hail to those musicians who turn dots on paper into tangible joys.
May your happiness increase!
JAZZ LIVES 