Dave Brubeck has always been somewhat misunderstood by the critics, the late Benny Green a dedicated opponent of Brubeck's brand of jazz typical, once declaring: “The quartet is so markedly deficient in certain essential jazz qualities that its popularity can hardly be regarded as success for jazz at all.” Fifty years on, that judgement barely merits scrutiny, since the interesting paradox of Brubeck's music was that he was playing ‘modern jazz’ but it was not in the prevailing hegemonic styles of bebop-into-hard bop, something critics in the 1950s and 1960s, as much as in contemporary times, found difficult to forgive. Resolutely modernistic, Brubeck provides a welcome alternative to the relentless formulas of hard bop and somewhat to his surprise, his group became the most popular in jazz of the 1950s and 1960s – another cause for critical opprobrium, since critics do prefer their heroes to endure a respectable degree of penury. Domino Records must be congratulated for coming up with this hitherto unreleased performance of the group at their peak. If the sound is not as crisp as the famous Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall released by Columbia from three years earlier, then the energy and creative élan of the group in general and Desmond in particular, might be said to be slightly superior. Included is the only recorded version of Brubeck's ‘Softly, William, Softly’, and a brilliant version of ‘Out of Nowhere’ that first appeared on the album Jazz Goes to Junior College from 1954.

Desmond, was resolutely original, his storytelling ability in spinning long solos of hypnotic beauty something young players today might learn much from, such as his solo on ‘Tangerine’. In contrast was Brubeck's piano style, that was concerned with polyrhythms and polytonality (an acknowledged influence on the playing of Cecil Taylor), that could be the soul of discretion accompanying Desmond, yet emerged as the group's dominant voice on pieces such as ‘Take the ‘A’ Train’ and ‘Forty Days’. Joe Morello was an exceptional drummer in solo and a model accompanist – together with the solid Eugene Wright – they toured the world to full houses and like the London crowd that day in November 1966, they brought the house down wherever they played. Remarkable for a jazz group, then and now.