Amanda Digs Dave (Brubeck, That Is)

There's a quite a bit on my plate right now – a few big work projects are wrapping up at the same time and I've got to keep a sprightly pace to keep on target. The solution? Simple. Brubeck.

I won't pretend to know much about jazz, but for a while now, I've been a big fan of the Dave Brubeck Quartet's masterpiece album from 1959, Time Out. It's got such a creeping coolness and directness about it – it's straightforward and surprising, shifting time signatures with ease and pulling you in with familiar melodies. You've definitely heard some of these before, such as the memorable "Take Five":

But what I've been listening to recently a lot is less ballsy, and a lot more like comfort food: Dave Digs Disney. Brubeck put his signature spin on some of Disney's standards in 1957, like "Heigh-Ho" and "Someday My Prince Will Come", without getting too literal about it at all. It embodies a sort of breeziness that feels entirely nostalgic and grownup at the same time. Sort of what visiting Disney World might be like if you were an Aristocat, maybe.

I really love the album as a whole (which you can download here), the way each number builds upon the last and wraps me in a dreamy world just tinged with Disney. You bet, I'm still coming down from the trip, but I think this drifts away from the source material enough to make it feel modern and adult.

If you've only got time for one, try "When You Wish Upon A Star":