JAZZ REVIEW : Dave Brubeck Swings to His Own Rhythm

Dave Brubeck’s musical point of view is direct and to the point. “I am what I am” would serve him as well as it does Popeye. Nearly 40 years of high visibility have made it amply clear that the celebrated jazz pianist-composer marches to his own drummer, undeterred by changing fashions or critical barbs.

His concert Tuesday night at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre was a case in point. The environment--a warm and intimate room with an eagerly receptive collegiate audience--was perfect, the kind of venue that has been the cornerstone of Brubeck’s continuing popularity. (Brubeck plays Humphrey’s in San Diego tonight at 8 p.m.)

The first few minutes of an opening “St. Louis Blues” quickly defined the sometimes contradictory parameters of his playing. Brubeck did not swing in the traditional jazz sense, yet his frequent use of dramatic cross rhythms provided an undeniably energetic surge. His improvisations were ornamental and colorful rather than pointed and melodic, yet his ballad work, especially on the subsequent “Yesterdays,” produced strikingly lovely phrasing.

Brubeck’s current quartet--with Bill Smith on clarinet, Jack Six on bass and Randy Jones on drums--reflected the easy intimacy of his classic association with the late alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. But the interaction between Brubeck and Smith never approached the almost symbiotic musical dialogues of the earlier group.

Smith played with flowing bop fluency, especially on the driving middle section of “Blue Rondo a la Turk.” Curiously, however, his soloing on a feature number, “Cassandra,” had less impact, with Smith laboring to deal with a too-rapid tempo.