Second only to jazz samba by stan getz, as the most commercially successful jazz record of all time (it even contained a single for the pop charts, paul desmond's magnificent 'take five'), brubeck brilliantly popularised jazz and offered it as a palatable alternative to bobby vee. this album sold by the trunkload and made brubeck a popular star. those jazz critics who shunned him for becoming too commercial must eattheir words, as this is a monumental album of the finest modern jazz. 'blue rondo a la turk' and 'kathy's waltz' demonstrate this man's graceful, nonchalant class.