In early December, Rifftides Moscow correspondent Svetlana Ilicheva reported with enthusiasm about an appearance by singer Victoria Tchekovaya (pictured) at a vocal festival of the Moscow Jazz Art Club. Ms. Tchekovaya’s concert was in observance of the 95th birthdays of Dave Brubeck and Carmen McRae. She included songs on which those two collaborated in the Brubeck musical The Real Ambassadors, plus vocal versions of other Brubeck instrumentals with lyrics by Iola Brubeck. Svetlana told us that “Blue Rondo a la Turk†was a highlight of the occasion. Video of that performance has materialized. Here is Ms. Tchekovaya with a quartet headed by the veteran pianist Victor Friedman. Pavel Kurtz is the alto saxophonist, with bassist Eugene Onischenko and drummer Valery Dedov.
For the same group’s version of Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way,†see and hear the video in this archive post.