We lost one of the greatest jazz pianist
December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012
Brubeck was a prolific and adventurous composer who incorporated the fugues
and counterpoint of classical music into ambitious jazz compositions,
investigated non-European scales and experimented with compound time signatures.
And the more adventurous he became, the more success he achieved.
In 1959 he released the platinum-selling album Time Out
– tracks included Blue Rondo A La Turk and the evergreen Take Five –
and the following year the symphonic Brubeck Plays Bernstein Plays Brubeck.
When
Dave Brubeck, who has died a day short of his 92nd birthday,
played at Ohio’s Oberlin classical music conservatory in 1953,
the young jazz composer and pianist was warned to expect a cold reception.
Instead came a rapturous response.
His experimental musicianship and infectious enthusiasm quickly made him a figurehead of Fifties American cool.
played at Ohio’s Oberlin classical music conservatory in 1953,
the young jazz composer and pianist was warned to expect a cold reception.
Instead came a rapturous response.
His experimental musicianship and infectious enthusiasm quickly made him a figurehead of Fifties American cool.
Brubeck was a prolific and adventurous composer who incorporated the fugues
and counterpoint of classical music into ambitious jazz compositions,
investigated non-European scales and experimented with compound time signatures.
And the more adventurous he became, the more success he achieved.
In 1959 he released the platinum-selling album Time Out
– tracks included Blue Rondo A La Turk and the evergreen Take Five –
and the following year the symphonic Brubeck Plays Bernstein Plays Brubeck.
Dave Brubeck:
A jazz icon who reached a massive audience
Dave Brubeck changed the sound of jazz in profound ways, unexpectedly becoming something of a pop star in the process.
Starting in the mid-1950s, in fact, he emerged as a symbol of jazz in
America, and well beyond, gracing the cover of Time magazine in 1954
and selling more than a million copies of “Take Five” in 1960. To this
day, the puckishly syncopated tune remains one of the most recognizable
in jazz, though Brubeck didn’t write it – his alto saxophonist, Paul
Desmond, did.
Beneath the popular acclaim stood a brilliant, uncompromising
composer-pianist who challenged conventional jazz techniques, brought
the music to American college campuses and helped break down racial
barriers through a music uniquely suited to that task.
Brubeck was en route to an appointment with his cardiologist when he
was stricken Wednesday morning,
said his longtime manager-producer-conductor, Russell Gloyd.
The pianist died of heart failure at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., near his home in Wilton, Conn.
said his longtime manager-producer-conductor, Russell Gloyd.
The pianist died of heart failure at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., near his home in Wilton, Conn.
Brubeck was anticipating a birthday concert Thursday, when he would
have turned 92.
The performance will go on, but in the form of a tribute, in Waterbury, Conn.
The performance will go on, but in the form of a tribute, in Waterbury, Conn.
"Dave Brubeck was one of the giants in the music – he changed the way people listened to the music,”
said David Baker, distinguished professor of music at Indiana University and a friend of the Brubeck family.
read more here
"Take Five" - 1966
Dave Brubeck - piano
Paul Desmond - alto saxophone
Eugene Wright - bass
Joe Morello - drums
Paul Desmond - alto saxophone
Eugene Wright - bass
Joe Morello - drums
Thanks for all the great music
and for all the great hours spent listening to it.
and for all the great hours spent listening to it.
Will never forget you and will still keep
listening.
