Dave Brubeck

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David Warren Brubeck
Dave Brubeck in March 2008
Background information
Birth name	David Warren Brubeck
Born	December 6, 1920 (1920-12-06) (age 87)
Origin	Concord, California, United States
Genre(s)	Jazz Cool jazz West Coast jazz Third stream
Occupation(s)	Pianist Composer Bandleader
Instrument(s)	Piano
Associated acts	Paul Desmond Gerry Mulligan Joe Morello Eugene Wright

David Warren Brubeck (born December 6, 1920 in Concord, California^[1]), better known as Dave Brubeck, is an American jazz pianist. Regarded as a genius in his field, he has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. Much of his music employs unusual time signatures.

His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the Dave Brubeck Quartet's most famous piece, "Take Five", which is in 5/4 time and has endured as a jazz classic. Brubeck experimented with time signatures through much of his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, and "Blue Rondo à la Turk" in 9/8. He also provided music for the TV animated miniseries "This Is America, Charlie Brown".

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 The Dave Brubeck Quartet era 3 Later career 4 Personal life 5 Awards 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Brubeck's mother studied piano in England and intended to become a concert pianist; at home she taught piano for extra money. Brubeck was not particularly interested in learning by any particular method, but preferred to create his own melodies. He avoided learning to read sheet music during these early lessons, attributing his difficulty reading music to poor eyesight.^[2]

In college, Brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he could not read sheet music. Several of his professors came forward arguing for his ability with counterpoint and harmony, but the school was still afraid that it would cause a scandal, and only agreed to let Brubeck graduate once he promised never to teach piano.^[3]

After graduating from the University of the Pacific in 1942, Brubeck was drafted into the army and served overseas in George Patton's Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge. While serving as a rifleman, Brubeck met Paul Desmond in early 1944.^[4]He played in a band, quickly integrating it and gaining both popularity and deference. He returned to college after serving nearly four years in the army, this time attending Mills College and studying under Darius Milhaud, who encouraged him to study fugue and orchestration but not classical piano.

After completing his studies under Milhaud, Brubeck signed with Berkeley, California's Fantasy Records. He started an octet and also a trio which included Cal Tjader and Ron Crotty. Later the trio became a quartet with Paul Desmond. Highly experimental, the group made few recordings and got even fewer paying jobs. A bit discouraged, Brubeck started a trio with two of the members, not including Desmond, who had a band of his own, and spent several years playing nothing but jazz standards.^[5]

[edit] The Dave Brubeck Quartet era

Following a near-fatal swimming accident which incapacitated him for several months, Brubeck organized The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951, with Desmond on saxophone. They took up a long residency at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub and gained great popularity touring college campuses, recording a series of albums with such titles as Jazz at Oberlin, Jazz Goes to College and Jazz Goes to Junior College. In 1954 he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, the second jazz musician to be so honored (the first was Louis Armstrong on February 21st, 1949^[6]).

In the mid-1950s, original Quartet members Bob Bates and Joe Dodge were respectively replaced by Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. Eugene Wright is African-American; in the late 1950s Brubeck cancelled many concerts because the club owners wanted him to bring a different bassist. He also cancelled a television appearance when he found out that the venue intended to keep Wright off-camera.

In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released Time Out, an album their label was enthusiastic about but nonetheless hesitant to release. Featuring the album art of Neil Fujita, the album contained all original compositions, almost none of which were in common time. Nonetheless, on the strength of these unusual time signatures (the album included "Take Five", "Blue Rondo à la Turk", and "Pick Up Sticks"), it quickly went platinum.

During this time, Dave Brubeck and his wife Iola were developing a jazz musical, The Real Ambassadors, which was based in part on experiences they and their colleagues had during foreign tours on behalf of the U.S. State Department. The soundtrack album, which featured Louis Armstrong, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and Carmen McRae was recorded in 1961, and the musical itself was performed at the 1962, Patronius Rice conducted the Monterey Jazz Festival.

The quartet followed up the success of Time Out with several more albums in the same vein, including Time Further Out: Miro Reflections (1961), Countdown: Time in Outer Space (dedicated to John Glenn), Time Changes, and Time In. These albums were also known for using contemporary paintings as cover art, featuring the work of Neil Fujita on Time Out, Joan Miró on Time Further Out, Franz Kline on Time in Outer Space, Sam Francis on Time Changes, and the fifth album, Time In did not feature an artist album art. A high point for the group was their classic 1963 live album At Carnegie Hall, described by critic Richard Palmer as "arguably Dave Brubeck's greatest concert".

Apart from the Jazz Goes to College and the 'Time' series, Brubeck recorded several records featuring his compositions based on local music. Jazz Impressions of USA, Jazz Impressions of Japan, Jazz Impressions of Eurasia and Jazz Impressions of New York may not be his most famous works, but all are brilliant examples of the quartet's studio work.

In the early 1960s Dave Brubeck was the program director of WJZZ-FM radio. He achieved his vision of an all jazz format radio station along with his friend and neighbor John E. Metts, one of the first African Americans in senior radio management. From 1956 - 1965 Mr. Metts was the Vice President of an existing news station in Bridgeport, CT, call letters:WICC "Wicc600". In 1964 WJZZ switched to broadcasting the "Top 100" - most likely due to the British Invasion of Rock and Roll.

The final studio album for CBS by the Desmond/Morello/Wright quartet was Time In (1967) featuring among other compositions the first released recording of "Forty Days," though several concert recordings followed.

[edit] Later career

The Dave Brubeck Quartet broke up in 1967 except for a 25th anniversary reunion in 1976; Brubeck continued playing with Desmond and then began recording with Gerry Mulligan. Desmond died in 1977 and left all residuals including the immense royalties for "Take Five", to the American Red Cross.^[7] Mulligan and Brubeck recorded together for six years and then Brubeck formed another group with Perry Robinson on clarinet (or Jerry Bergonzi on saxophone), and three of his sons, Dan, Darius, and Chris, on drums, bass, and keyboards.

In 1971 Brubeck composed a classical work: the cantata Truth Is Fallen, dedicated to the memory of the Kent State shootings and Jackson State killings of May 1970. The work was premiered in Midland, Michigan on May 1, 1971 and released on LP in 1972.[1]

In 1994, Brubeck was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

Today, Brubeck continues to write new works, including orchestrations and ballet scores, and tours about 80 cities each year, up to recently about 20 of them in Europe in autumn. From his 85th birthday his European appearances will be limited. His area of focus is the U.S., where he still premieres new works, like the Cannery Row Suite, and a project with a big band. His quartet now includes alto saxophonist and flautist Bobby Militello, bassist Michael Moore (who replaced Alec Dankworth), and his long-time drummer Randy Jones and has recently worked extensively with the London Symphony Orchestra.

In April 2003, Brubeck gave his final tour of the UK, playing to prestigious concert halls nationwide. He announced in 2007 that at the age of 86, he felt international touring would be too difficult to continue.

At the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2006, Brubeck debuted his commissioned work, Cannery Row Suite, a jazz opera drawn from the characters in John Steinbeck's American classic writing about Monterey's roots as a sardine fishing and packing town. Iola, Dave Brubeck's wife since 1942, is his personal secretary, manager and lyricist, and co-authored the Cannery Row Suite with Dave. His performance of this as well as a number of jazz standards with his current quartet was the buzz of the 49th Monterey Jazz Festival.

[edit] Personal life

Four of Brubeck's six children are professional musicians. Darius, the eldest, is an accomplished pianist, producer, educator and performer. Dan is a renowned percussionist, Chris is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Matthew, the youngest, is a versatile cellist with an impressive list of composing and performance credits. Brubeck's children often join with him in concerts and in the recording studio.

Brubeck believed the casualties of World War II contradicted the Ten Commandments, and the war evoked a spiritual awakening. He became a Catholic in 1980, shortly after completing the Mass To Hope which had been commissioned by Ed Murray, editor of the national Catholic weekly Our Sunday Visitor. Although he had spiritual interests before then he said, "I didn't convert to Catholicism, because I wasn't anything to convert from. I just joined the Catholic Church."^[8] In 1996, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006, Brubeck was awarded the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, during the University's Commencement. He performed "Travellin' Blues" for the graduating class of 2006.

Brubeck founded the Brubeck Institute with his wife at their alma mater, the University of the Pacific in 2000. What began as a special archive, consisting of the personal document collection of the Brubecks has since expanded to provide fellowships and educational opportunities in jazz for students.^[9]

On April 8, 2008 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented Brubeck with the "Benjamin Franklin Awards for Public Diplomacy" for offering an American "vision of hope, opportunity and freedom" through his music.^[10] "As a little girl I grew up on the sounds of Dave Brubeck because my dad was your biggest fan," said Rice.^[11] The State Department said in a statement that "as a pianist, composer, cultural emissary and educator, Dave Brubeck's life's work exemplifies the best of America's cultural diplomacy."^[10] At the ceremony Brubeck played a brief recital for the audience at the State Department.^[10] "I want to thank all of you because this honor is something that I never expected. Now I am going to play a cold piano with cold hands," Brubeck stated.^[10]

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced on May 28, 2008 that Brubeck will be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The induction ceremony will take place December 10th and he will be inducted alongside 11 other legendary Californians.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Awards

• 1996 - Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2004 - Doctorate honoris causa University of Fribourg, Switzerland
• 2006 - Laetare Medal (University of Notre Dame)
• 2007 - BBC Jazz "Lifetime Achievement Award"
• 2008 - Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy^[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dave Brubeck.com
• 2004 WNYC Interview with Brubeck
• Dave Brubeck Collection at the University of the Pacific Holt-Atherton's Special Collections
• Photographs of Dave Brubeck from the University of the Pacific Holt-Atherton's Special Collections
• PBS - Rediscovering Dave Brubeck December 16, 2001 documentary
• Dave Brubeck Discography Project
• The Brubeck Institute
• Biography, photos, CDs and concert review of Dave Brubeck by cosmopolis.ch
• Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks
• Dave Brubeck Quartet Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks