Album Notes

“Balcony Rock” is one of the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s best-loved jazz instrumentals, and dates from the Quartet’s 1954 Jazz Goes to College Album. In 2007, songwriter Brad Burg wrote a lyric for that melody, which Brubeck approved. The resulting vocal version, called “Rockin’ In The Balcony,” is the first tune on this CD.

So this is, in effect, a songwriting collaboration that took over half a century (53 years, in fact) to complete, which may be a world record in that area.

About the singer: Emily Catherine sings in a range of adult contemporary styles, including smooth jazz, melodic pop, and country. She recorded the tribute to New Orleans (song number 5) when she was 12, after a visit to the Crescent City. Later, she returned to New Orleans while a college student, helping to build homes there as a Habitat For Humanity volunteer.

P.S. The "Jazz Goes To College" album is available on CD, of course, so you can still hear the instrumental "Balcony Rock" if you wish. But note that the melody is not stated until about 11 minutes into an almost 12-minute tune.

About the lyricist/songwriter: Brad Burg has several other CDs at CD Baby, with songs that are mostly light rock, pop and country (he's written a #1 country song). He also has a children's CD based on his award-winning Penguin collection of children's poetry, "Outside The Lines: Poetry At Play."