Paul Desmond was an artist who stood alone on the alto saxophone. His tone was light but full. His improvisations were complex but always lyrical and direct. If Johnny Hodges was the seducer on alto, Desmond was the cool intellect always willing to engage all of your senses.
Desmond's only professional activities outside the Brubeck orbit were several recorded encounters with Gerry Mulligan and the recording quartet that he led from 1959 to 1965 with guitarist Jim Hall and drummer Connie Kay on a succession of albums for Warner Bros. and RCA Victor. When the Brubeck quartet disbanded in 1967, Desmond began a phase of semi-retirement. He recorded a number of commercially-oriented albums for A & M and CTI, produced by Creed Taylor, between 1968 and '74. The last album in this run was the aptly-named "Pure Desmond" with a quartet that included Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert, who was recommended to Paul by Jim Hall.
Desmond was accepting few live gigs during this period beyond reunion tours with Brubeck. He didn't need the money and he was physically spent. But an offer to play the Bourbon Street Jazz Club with Bickert in March 1975 proved irresistible. Bassist Don Thompson and drummer Jerry Fuller completed the band. Desmond connected with this rhythm section immediately and a strong musical bond developed on the bandstand that yanked Desmond out of his doldrums.
He later wrote of "the giddy euphoria of playing a club again after years of concerts." Of the inspirational sidemen on the date, he said, "Jerry [Fuller] is a charter member of a unique and endangered species - a drummer who is happiest while devoting his sensitive and intelligent playing to whatever is happening at the moment…Don [Thompson] is, of course, a walking miracle…he writes charts like an angel…he plays the right changes…his solos are dependably unbelievable. Ed Bickert is unique. Chords, for instance…when I work with Ed, I find myself turning around several times a night to count the strings on his guitar."
CD1
01. Too Marvelous for Words (8:03)
02. Line for Lyons (9:05)
03. Emily (9:38)
04. It Could Happen to You (7:42)
05. Just Squeeze Me (9:06)
06. I Wish I Knew (8:23)
07. I Should Care (8:41)
08. Audrey (8:35)
CD2
01. Just Squeeze Me (8:43)
02. Meditation (10:55)
03. Tangerine (9:42)
04. Darn That Dream (12:13)
05. Nuages (10:36)
06. Like Someone in Love (9:50)
07. Things Ain't What They Used to Be (11:17)
CD3
01. Line for Lyons (7:39)
02. Wendy (11:17)
03. Too Marvelous for Words (6:52)
04. When Sunny Gets Blue (11:47)
05. Audrey (9:39)
06. Darn That Dream (10:56)
07. Take Five (7:00)
CD4
01. Tangerine (7:46)
02. Wave (12:47)
03. It Could Happen to You (9:47)
04. Emily (8:53)
05. Line for Lyons (8:22)
06. When Sunny Gets Blue (12:41)
07. Things Ain't What They Used to Be (10:08)
CD5
01. I've Got You Under My Skin (10:45)
02. Just Squeeze Me (9:53)
03. All the Things You Are (9:07)
04. Autumn Leaves (8:52)
05. Wave (10:25)
06. Nuages (9:06)
07. East of the Sun (6:22)
CD6
01. Let's Get Away from It All (11:54)
02. Line for Lyons (12:21)
03. Just Squeeze Me (11:19)
04. My Funny Valentine (8:34)
05. Mean to Me (12:18)
06. Wendy (11:50)
07. Things Ain't What They Used to Be (9:37)
CD7
01. Wendy (7:34)
02. Wave (11:39)
03. Things Ain't What They Used to Be (9:09)
04. Nancy (9:51)
05. Manha de Carnaval (9:39)
06. Here's That Rainy Day (7:26)
07. My Funny Valentine (10:45)
08. Take Five (7:23)
