Dave Brubeck, a perennial American favorite throughout his multidecade jazz career, is hard not to like, though, Lord knows, some critics have tried. Like Abraham Lincoln, Brubeck is absolutely original--indefatigable, modest, often brilliant, and dryly witty. He's also durable as an oak and upright as a sequoia. Dave's slightly wooden lock-hand style may raise critics' hackles, but that doesn't chip a toothpick from his popularity. His fun-loving humor and delightful persona--occasionally masked in pomp on past recordings--come over in spades on this generous two-CD set, nowhere more so than on rousing both-sides-of the-Atlantic reinventions of "Take Five," altoist Paul Desmond's inescapable 5/4 theme. Hear Brubeck rollick in his wonted abandon on "Broadway Bossa Nova" and "Margie." He's even smoothed out some of his rough riding by harking back to dapper stride and ragtime styles. Brubeck cultivates long-standing bands: you can count his quartet's saxophonists since 1948 on a few fingers. Fellow romantic Bobby Militello, a searing altoist of the Phil Woods school, had been with Brubeck for more than a decade when this set was recorded, and bassist Jack Six much longer than that. The band's evident comfort factor is no impediment to playing convincing swing. Beautifully paced sets feature oldies and newies (such as the charming ballad "The Things You Never Remember" and "Marian McPartland," the sturdy tribute to his octogenarian compatriot), many with Dave's pensive, classically oriented piano introductions ("Body and Soul" and "Don't Worry 'Bout Me"). Having built a distinguished career on European (Darius Milhaud) and American (Duke Ellington, the stride masters) traditions, Brubeck always seems to continue building on his own. --Fred Bouchard