We listened to a fair amount of jazz or jazz-influenced music in my time at university but I remembered today that most of all we listened to the Dave Brubeck Quartet, especially from the Time Out period. I suppose the sheer mellifluousness of it all represented a way in for young guys like us who knew next to nothing about the tradition. But once in we had a foundation to build on and, I'm embarrassed to admit, that some four or five years later I would have regarded Brubeck as just a little passe.
This all came back to me when I chanced on a video of the quartet at the height of their powers and popularity in the mid-sixties, playing the stuff we listened to over and over around a decade later. Listening today I was able to take in just how phenomenally good the DBQ were; I don't think I'd quite registered the drop-dead brilliance of the Morello-Wright rhythm section back then - but, my goodness, I did today.
I'd suggest that listening to them live is a useful test of one's musical taste: if you aren't in love with the band after seven minutes there's no hope for you, I'm afraid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfZruW3NI6c .
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