Above : Dave Brubeck in Australia, 1960… Photo credit Barry Newberry
Another sold-out jazz concert on Oct 15, 2026, at The Lounge in Chatswood, saw the return of one of the most outstanding groups of the 2025 program: the trio including pianist Simon Tedeschi, double bassist Cameron Undy and saxophonist/clarinetist Paul Cutlan. On this occasion they devoted their program to the works of the great American jazz pianist/composer Dave Brubeck. In many ways this was clever programming as Brubeck’s music is comparatively well-known to the general public, courtesy of his quartet’s huge hit Take Five, recorded in 1959 and featured on the famous album Time Out.
It’s said that Take Five was written by Paul Desmond, the alto saxophonist in Brubeck’s quartet, and naturally he deserves most of the credit for this legendary composition. But it’s probably more accurate to say that Desmond’s melodic fragments were arranged by Brubeck himself, following a challenge issued by the quartet’s drummer Joe Morello for a tune to be written in what was then regarded as a difficult time signature, 5/4. Released as a promotional single in September, 1959, Take Five became the first jazz single to sell a million. By 1967, it had sold two million copies, becoming the best-selling jazz single of all time.
The concert opened with Tedeschi on piano and Cutlan on alto saxophone. The latter instrument was the obvious choice for the repertoire being played, as Desmond’s alto saxophone was the indispensable element in the Brubeck quartet’s sound.  Tedeschi first played a piece by BartĂłk, from his Mikrokosmos; this was then merged seamlessly into Take Five.Â
Moving right along, the next tune was a piece called Wendy. As this tune, taken at a medium slow four tempo, was unknown to me, I immediately assumed it must have been a little-known Brubeck composition. However I was surprised to discover, after a little research at home, that this tune was in fact written and recorded by Paul Desmond, and there’s no evidence I could find that Brubeck had anything to do with it.
At that point the duo was then joined by Cameron Undy on double bass, and Cutlan left the stage. The new duo then played a Brubeck composition Here Comes McBride, based on an excellent version one can find on YouTube, featuring Brubeck and the great African American double bassist Christian McBride. This was made for Tedeschi and Undy, who played it brilliantly.
At this stage, a word on the jazz style of Tedeschi. It goes without saying that he’s one of Australia’s most celebrated and accomplished classical pianists. This is not the place to canvass his stellar achievements in that idiom. Until I heard him play at The Lounge in 2025, I wasn’t even aware that he played jazz. Hearing him then was a revelation, but experiencing his artistry again in 2026 afforded me additional insights into the elements of his improvisational style.
Those elements include from time to time passages in which Tedeschi has both hands doubling a single-line melody in unison; sometimes he uses what’s known as closed chords, whereby both hands double a melody within those chords, somewhat after the style of George Shearing; and of course he’s well aware of the standard jazz piano style, whereby his sparkling single-line improvisations in the right hand are accompanied by stabbing, accompanying chords in the left hand. Also, I deeply admire the dense chords which he plays when comping behind the solos of others in the trio. At these times, the thought often occurs to me: this man can really play the piano.
Tedeschi’s style indicates, to my way of thinking, a clear-headed and mature pianist who has a strong percussive style at the keyboard, and who projects a mood of absolute certainty. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that his classical training has enabled him to master the piano keyboard. I reiterate what I said about him in 2025, that he’s “a thinking improviser…. he would be able to hold his own in any first-class jazz group in this country.” That might sound like overstatement, but I stand by what I said then.
Three more numbers took the first set to the intermission: In Your Own Sweet Way, one of Brubeck’s most well-known and most often played compositions; a little-known but touching tune entitled All My Love, a solo piano work which Brubeck composed in 1999 as a tribute to his wife Iola Brubeck; and the coup de grace which closed the set in exciting fashion, Brubeck’s Blue Rondo à la Turk.
The latter composition is almost as famous as Take Five; it begins with an unconventional 9/8 rhythm inspired by Turkish street musicians which Brubeck heard when in Turkey. Upon asking the musicians where they got the rhythm, one replied: “This rhythm is to us what the blues is to you.” I’ve never heard any other Australian pianist attempt this rather difficult work, and I suspect that only a pianist with Tedeschi’s great technical ability would be brave enough to attempt it. Still, it served to bring the first set to a climactic close.
The second set continued with Cutlan and Tedeschi in duo mode once again, commencing with Brubeck’s charming little waltz Three To Get Ready, another track from Time Out. Cutlan was now on clarinet for the first time. This tune is basically about alternating 3/4 and 4/4 bars, and was handled adeptly by the musicians. Next was a composition Basie Band is Back in Town, a swinging tune written by Brubeck circa 2001 for a tribute album to Count Basie’s orchestra, on which Brubeck’s three sons also played.
Then another track from Time Out, entitled It’s a Raggy Waltz. By this time Undy was back on stage, and played perhaps the most brilliant bass solo of the night, completely unaccompanied, reinforcing his status as one of this country’s greatest double bassists. A generous audience warmly applauded his artistry, and in my notes I referred to Tedeschi’s mastery of syncopated chords, another element in Tedeschi’s armoury of skills. Eight-bar breaks being swapped by the three players continued the music at an exciting level. By this stage one could anticipate the inevitable standing ovation.
The penultimate work was the Brubeck composition Travelin’ Blues, probably best-known for the vocal version which Carmen McRae recorded in the 60s with the Brubeck quartet, singing lyrics written by Brubeck’s wife Iola. Cutlan was back on clarinet for this tune; he too, like Undy, had done enough throughout the night to underline his reputation as one of Australia’s finest jazz saxophonists.
Before mentioning the final composition played, I should mention how well-balanced the night’s program was. Certainly the tracks from Time Out were logical inclusions, but those well-known pieces were balanced by clever versions of little-known  compositions, such as All My Love, Wendy and Here Comes McBride, some of which were written or recorded many years after the halcyon days of the Brubeck quartet, well after Brubeck’s portrait appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1954. Those little-known compositions gave the repertoire welcome variety, providing a mixture of the familiar and the original, an essential aspect of a successful jazz concert.
The concert finished with an unusually extensive repeat of Take Five, on which the three musicians each played generous solos at length. Once again a capacity audience in The Lounge, certainly in my experience an audience which has over the years grown in maturity, showed once again its ability to listen carefully to, and warmly appreciate, the first-class jazz which this series has offered each month. I often wonder why other local councils around Sydney are not in the business of supporting the arts on the model of Willoughby City Council.
In these reviews in Sydney Arts Guide I’ve often drawn attention to the pristine conditions in The Lounge which invariably enable the performing musicians to produce their best. Those conditions of course include an excellent grand piano, and splendid technicians, whom I sometimes fail to acknowledge. Here I note that the sound technician at this event was Ramon Briant, and the lighting technician Rohan Larosa. I congratulate them on a job well done. Such technicians are essential to the success of the Jazz At The Lounge series.
The Jazz At The Lounge series at The Concourse in Chatswood is curated by Cinque Artist Management, and presented by Willoughby City Council as part of Culture Bites, its program of arts and culture. This concert took place at The Lounge on October 15, 2026, and presented Simon Tedeschi (piano), Cameron Undy (double bass) & Paul Cutlan (alto saxophone & clarinet).
