pjw, I don’t think it is the odd meter tunes that cause some to be luke warm about Brubeck’s music. In fact it is those tunes that became his best known. I think it is more the fact that Brubeck’s music had a distinct feeling and way with swing. It was very much in the West Coast style of Swing, not quite the same amount of swagger and feeling of the Blues that East Coast Jazz has. Some have referred to it as a bit “white”.
Paul Desmond is one of my favorite alto players and for me he was always the main attraction of Brubeck’s band; a band that while not my absolute favorite, I enjoy very much.