The following item ran on Rifftides more than five years ago, with a link to video that later disappeared from the web. The clip has 
been restored. In light of recent discussions about the blues theme that frequently appeared when the two men played together, even after the Brubeck Quartet dissolved in 1967, the item is worth presenting again. This time, the video is on your screen. The picture quality is bad. The quality of the sound and the music is good.
June 29, 2007 By Doug Ramsey
Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond in duo were one of the great treats of the seventies even as Desmond contended with the lung cancer that was soon to end his life. Someone caught one of their reunions on tape–a short blues performance culminating in the “Audrey” or “Balcony Rock” melody that they favored for more than a quarter of a century.
Happy Sunday.
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
As PD would have said: “As long as I can hear what everybody’s doing, I don’t worry about scratches. It can be on a record, a tape or a strip of cellophane, for all I care. I listen to the music.”
Anyway, though I listened deeply – really, I did! – I couldn’t help it: Dave looks in this video like a swingin’ Ludwig van Beethoven.
Here’s my own short paseo with Audrey, and her gorgeous twin sister.
Brubeck / Desmond duo. Beautiful, as ever.
According to my records, it appears that ‘Balcony Rock’ was only played twice on the Reunion Tour. Once on February 15, 1976 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and again on March 11, 1976 in Midland, Michigan.
Well, I guess I am wrong. I should have scrolled down in the Comments section of the YouTube video. This is taken from February 27, 1976 in Boston, Massachusetts.