Jon de Lucia - The Brubeck Octet Project Strikes Again! (2026)

Conductor and arranger Jon De Lucia, working under the Brubeck Octet Project, has recreated music of the Dave Brubeck Octet, an experimental ensemble of the late 1940s that never recorded this material. Working from surviving original parts and rebuilding the missing pieces, he assembled an album that has never existed on any record before.

It opens with “Goodnight Eileen,” a blues by saxophonist and arranger Dave Van Kriedt that served as the octet’s signature tune when it auditioned in April 1949 on Jimmy Lyons’ radio program “NBC Conservatory of Jazz.” Next comes “Happy in Love,” a Glenn Miller hit, with a shout chorus that De Lucia reworked from Gerry Mulligan’s famous “Godchild” arrangement. The arranger Smith, a pupil of Darius Milhaud, is represented by three works. In “Tea for Two” the original melody is never stated, and the chart is full of modernist twists instead. “Lullaby in Rhythm” is built on folk themes and polytonality, anticipating his later work with Brubeck, such as “The Riddle.” “Stardust” was written for altoist Paul Desmond; only four of its original parts survive, and the reconstruction is De Lucia’s.

The program has two original compositions: “By Heart,” a contrafact on the harmony of “My Heart Stood Still” written by De Lucia himself, and Van Kriedt’s “Fugue II,” a premiere recording expanded with an alto solo. The fugue is no accident: by the compiler’s account, no album in the project is complete without one. The ballad “Body and Soul” is a showcase for trombone, and its A and B melodies are set against each other in the out chorus. Van Kriedt’s “Chorale” is taken at a fast tempo, and “Kon-Tiki” brings the mood back down. The album closes with “Perdido,” the only arrangement by octet bassist Jack Weeks, which survived into the repertoire of the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Arrangements by Dave Van Kriedt (1,2,4,7,9,10), William O. Smith (3,5,6) and Jack Weeks (11), with additional arranging by Jon De Lucia.
Jon De Lucia - Alto Saxophone
Brandon Lee - Trumpet
Scott Robinson - Tenor Saxophone
Becca Patterson - Trombone
Jay Rattman - Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone
Glenn Zaleski - Piano
Daniel Duke - Bass
Keith Balla - Drums

Tracklist:
1. Jon de Lucia - Goodnight Eileen
2. Jon de Lucia - Happy in Love
3. Jon de Lucia - Tea for Two
4. Jon de Lucia - By Heart
5. Jon de Lucia - Lullaby in Rhythm
6. Jon de Lucia - Stardust
7. Jon de Lucia - Fugue II
8. Jon de Lucia - Body and Soul
9. Jon de Lucia - Chorale
10. Jon de Lucia - Kon-Tiki
11. Jon de Lucia - Perdido