Legacy of a Legend Columbia (2 CDs)****

Brubeck, like Sonny Rollins and Kenny Wheeler, is 80 this year and still performing. Unlike them, he has never won universal admiration as a soloist, but rather respect for his musical openness, his skill as a composer, the sheer breadth of his knowledge of the piano, and his dogged insistence on improvisation. And, as this fine retrospective shows, his most celebrated era was the 1950s and 1960s, when he led the quartet with altoist Paul Desmond, heard on 16 of the 21 tracks. Besides the often sublime Desmond, others featured include Gerry Mulligan and singers Carmen McRae, Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Rushing. Although Take Fiveis on here, it's not a crass Greatest Hits compilation. The pianist has chosen judiciously, and the result is broad overview of what Brubeck and his enormously popular (and uncompromising) quartet were about. See legacyrecordings. com