‘The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Live From The Northwest, 1959’ is a collection of never-before-released recordings from the archives of Brubeck Editions of two electrifying concerts recorded on April 4, 1959 at the historic Multnomah Hotel in Portland and on April 5th in the auditorium at nearby Clark College.  The legendary quartet of Dave Brubeck on piano, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello are further testament to their unprecedented skills. What master sound engineer, Wally Heider, was able to capture from these diverse and challenging venues  are two performances that embody the very sound of the Dave Brubeck Quartet that audiences first fell in love with - described as “lightning in a bottle.”

We talk with multi-instrumentalist and Grammy-nominated composer, Chris Brubeck, about discovering this stellar collection in the archives, the backstory of how it happened, and why Brubeck Editions chose it as the label’s third release in continuing the legacy of Dave Brubeck.