Dave Brubeck took a stand against racism and would refuse to play in segregated venues. He turned down offers to perform in South Africa because of ordinances that prohibited racially mixed groups. He apparently started one the first racially integrated bands in the U.S. army during WW II.
I like an anecdote of his [1] about trying to perform in the South: ended up having to cancel 23 of the 25 performances, but did manage to push two through, which in his view only ran up against official opposition enforcing the rules they thought they were supposed to enforce, not opposition from anyone who actually attended the performance on purpose.
Occasionally interesting to think that I'm the first generation where it was normal for a jazz band to have both white and black musicians. Very recent that the racists were beaten back.
Benny Goodman was the first Bandleader that integrated his orchestra and small groups in the 1930s. Goodman's quartet feathered Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton.
I'm not saying Brubeck didn't do it, but he certainly wasn't the first.
I’m 33. I "discovered" Brubeck four or five years ago, primarily wearing out Jazz Impressions of New York while looking to detox a bit from a year of Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis.
In April 2011 my wife and I took a train from South Carolina to Washington D.C. to catch one of Dave's four sold out shows at Blues Alley. I paid more money than I had ever paid to see a concert, knowing this would likely be my only chance to ever see him live. He played an amazing set, with minimal onstage banter, giving his players plenty of room to shine during their solos.
He ended the set with a few of his more well-known standards, and then—just before leaving the stage—simply said, “They’ve got me on oxygen. But I made it through the whole set without needing the damn thing.”
Glad to hear it. Discovery is always a lot of fun, regardless of latency.
Don't stop there. There were/are many good musicians performing excellent work from the 1950s and 60s on. Please keep looking.
I'll mention just a few I consider deserving of attention (and this is by no means comprehensive): Yusef Lateef, John Coltrane, Eddie Palmieri, Sun Ra, Oliver Nelson, John Hicks, Joe Henderson, Duke Pearson, Cal Tjader, Cannonball Adderley, …, MJQ, …).
If you would like to hear an(other) excellent tune in 5/4 besides /Take Five/ circa nine years later, check out Yusef Lateef's rendition of /Get Over, Get Off and Get On/ on the album "The Blue Yusef Lateef".
There are wonderful contemporary musicians, long-standing and novel, worth seeing at the most intimate of venues, the nightclub, as you have found.
My first nightclub experience, long ago, was Cannonball Adderley at the London House in Chicago, circa 1968, and I've enjoyed such a venue ever since. Nothing is better.
I learned of Dave's music when I tracked down the theme song used in "The Secret Life of Machines" (which was "Take Five"). I bought his album "Time out" that had that song on it and really enjoyed it. Then bought the Christmas Album. Sad to hear he has died, but glad he chose to share his music with us.
Time Out is a pretty unique jazz album that's often overlooked. Most jazz, like rock, is in 4/4 time (with the odd waltz-time tune to liven it up.) Not good enough for Dave Brubeck: Time Out has all kinds of weird compound time stuff going on. Take Five is in 5/4, which gives it its unusual vibe; Three to Get Ready gives you two bars of 3/4 and two of 4/4, alternating (which to me it feels a bit like a car on the verge of starting; I don't actually like that tune.) There's other stuff going on there too but it's been a while since I listened to it. Will dig it out again tonight in his honour.
Non jazz-heads wanting a similar experience could do worse than listen to Money, by Pink Floyd: 7/4 for the verses, then 4/4 for the solo.
the amazing thing about his music is that it still sounds extremely contemporary, take five is the perfect example - david holmes does a better job of sounding "old"
Completely OT but I just don't get anime at all. What am I missing? I got 10 minutes through Episode 1 at that link expecting something to happen - nothing did. I don't even really follow the storyline - a wimpy kid who can only stop himself throwing up by running onto the school roof.
It's like cryptic crosswords, god and football matches - I must be missing a part of the brain.
Oh my... I had no idea he was still alive until now! Shame on me :-(
A while ago, I randomly bought a Dave Brubeck CD. I'd heard of him and knew he was a jazz pianist, but was not familiar with his work at all, so I thought I'd give it a try.
For the next couple of weeks, it didn't leave my CD player - I had it on constant repeat. It's just really good.
Funnily, I was into text adventures / IF at that time as well, so now in my brain the "Jazz Impressions of New York" are forever entangled with "A Mind Forever Voyaging".
I have such great memories of enjoying Brubeck's music with my late grandparents, delivered off dusty LPs. Take Five is, for all it's over-saturation, still one of my favorite pieces of all time (and Time Out is one of my favorite albums). While his passing is sad, dying at 91 and leaving such an amazing legacy is all we can really hope for.
Brubeck and Paul Desmond inspired me musically at an early age to pick up the sax and fueled my love of jazz. "Time Out" was the first CD I ever bought with my own money (my grandfather had an original vinyl copy I would listen to at his house). My nick can even be traced back to Dave's early influence in my life. I don't have many personal heroes or idols in my life, but Dave Brubeck is one of them. This is sad news.
We saw him a few years ago at a concert at Ravinia (https://www.ravinia.org/) along with Ramsay Lewis. Dave was clearly not a full physical strength, and it seemed that he was playing fewer notes, but his enthusiasm was tops.
I saw Dave Brubeck in concert about 10 years ago. When he walked on stage, he very much looked like a man in his 80s, but when he started playing he was still pure genius.
Dave Brubeck was awesome. Glad to hear that he lived to a ripe old age. I don't know much about him, but I hope his years were as fun, energetic, and awesome as his music.
What I'm about to say doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I find it remarkable that he died the eve of his birthday.
I have a theory that people die not long after their birthday, and never before -- meaning that the time from their last birthday < the time before their next birthday (the theory being that they fight to live until their birthday, and then they let go).
Anecdotal evidence gathered among people I knew confirms this, but I would like to test it on a scale that would be statistically significant -- but I don't know where to find the data...
- - -
This specific event would appear to be a counter example, except one can consider that dying "almost" the day of one's birthday doesn't really falsify the theory. He tried to live up to the day of his birthday and almost succeeded.
Result: chance to die on your birthday is about 14% higher than any other day of the year; based on investigating time and causes of death of 2 milion people over a period of 40 years. On your birthday, sadly apparent there is a higher chance for a stroke, accidents and suicide. People suffering from a long-time illness like cancer also have a higher chance to die on their birthday.
God I miss turning on the radio to hear KCSM now that I live in Austin. I programmed years of my life away listening to that station in a crappy rented room in Sunnyvale after college, and loved every bit of it.
So grateful they're streaming online. I still donate.
If you live in the Bay Area and don't see a show at Yoshi's, you definitely owe it to yourself...
"put jazz back in vogue"? i've searched the article and still can't work out what this is referring to. is he particularly prized in the usa? was he some kind of tv personality?
(i listen to a fair bit of jazz; respect to the guy - he made one of the famous jazz records - but if he was the first jazz musician on time's cover that, in honesty, says a lot more about time, american culture, and his skin colour (no criticism of brubeck implied - see the article for his impeccable credentials there) than his status as a jazz musician).
"In a long and successful career, Mr. Brubeck helped repopularize jazz at a time when younger listeners had been trained to the sonic dimensions of the three-minute pop single. His quartet’s 1959 recording of “Take Five” was the first jazz single to sell a million copies."
He got a jazz record up the pop charts at a time when that was not really something that was happening.
There's two factors here. One is that bebop--the previous ruling jazz style--faded considerably during WWII, and was also dominated by black culture. Brubeck brought jazz back into style, and also--as you noted--made it less of a racial issue. The previous white jazz was big band swing, which had its heyday in the '20s and was long gone by Brubeck's day.
In addition to what has already been commented, his music also reached the more classically-oriented people who found jazz to be too esoteric and incomprehensible.
Basically, he created jazz music that a wide spectrum of people were able to appreciate and enjoy, while at the same time advancing the state of the art.
"Take five" was actually a great jazz theme that I always compare to great programming, saying: "You want to know how the great code looks like? Listen to this."
a lot of people know his album "time out", with "Take Five", but the quartet got a lot wilder than that. My favorite record is "Jazz At Oberlin", Dave really plays some different stuff entirely, the interplay is fantastic.
I was lucky to see him perform live a few years ago in redwood city. He seemed to be having a lot of fun at the age of 87! I wish I would be able to say the same if I make it that far.
[+] [-] leothekim|13 years ago|reply
We lost a musical genius and a good human being.
[+] [-] mjn|13 years ago|reply
Occasionally interesting to think that I'm the first generation where it was normal for a jazz band to have both white and black musicians. Very recent that the racists were beaten back.
[1] http://cordjefferson.tumblr.com/post/37269121387/all-these-r...
[+] [-] kylebgorman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] officemonkey|13 years ago|reply
I'm not saying Brubeck didn't do it, but he certainly wasn't the first.
[+] [-] blankenship|13 years ago|reply
In April 2011 my wife and I took a train from South Carolina to Washington D.C. to catch one of Dave's four sold out shows at Blues Alley. I paid more money than I had ever paid to see a concert, knowing this would likely be my only chance to ever see him live. He played an amazing set, with minimal onstage banter, giving his players plenty of room to shine during their solos.
He ended the set with a few of his more well-known standards, and then—just before leaving the stage—simply said, “They’ve got me on oxygen. But I made it through the whole set without needing the damn thing.”
Class act.
[+] [-] GaryGapinski|13 years ago|reply
Don't stop there. There were/are many good musicians performing excellent work from the 1950s and 60s on. Please keep looking.
I'll mention just a few I consider deserving of attention (and this is by no means comprehensive): Yusef Lateef, John Coltrane, Eddie Palmieri, Sun Ra, Oliver Nelson, John Hicks, Joe Henderson, Duke Pearson, Cal Tjader, Cannonball Adderley, …, MJQ, …).
If you would like to hear an(other) excellent tune in 5/4 besides /Take Five/ circa nine years later, check out Yusef Lateef's rendition of /Get Over, Get Off and Get On/ on the album "The Blue Yusef Lateef".
There are wonderful contemporary musicians, long-standing and novel, worth seeing at the most intimate of venues, the nightclub, as you have found.
My first nightclub experience, long ago, was Cannonball Adderley at the London House in Chicago, circa 1968, and I've enjoyed such a venue ever since. Nothing is better.
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scrumper|13 years ago|reply
Non jazz-heads wanting a similar experience could do worse than listen to Money, by Pink Floyd: 7/4 for the verses, then 4/4 for the solo.
[+] [-] antr|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] quasistar|13 years ago|reply
If you're in a jazzy mood tonite, I can strongly recommend the recent Shinichiro Watanbe anime "Kids on the Slope" (坂道のアポロン Sakamichi no Apollon).
http://www.crunchyroll.com/kids-on-the-slope
[+] [-] AlexMuir|13 years ago|reply
It's like cryptic crosswords, god and football matches - I must be missing a part of the brain.
[+] [-] kleiba|13 years ago|reply
A while ago, I randomly bought a Dave Brubeck CD. I'd heard of him and knew he was a jazz pianist, but was not familiar with his work at all, so I thought I'd give it a try.
It happened to be this one: http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Impressions-York-Dave-Brubeck/dp/...
For the next couple of weeks, it didn't leave my CD player - I had it on constant repeat. It's just really good.
Funnily, I was into text adventures / IF at that time as well, so now in my brain the "Jazz Impressions of New York" are forever entangled with "A Mind Forever Voyaging".
[+] [-] mjb|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jazzychad|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shocks|13 years ago|reply
Wish I'd been able to see him live. What a great man.
[+] [-] jlturner|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dredmorbius|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wglb|13 years ago|reply
I recommend the boxed set http://www.amazon.com/For-All-Time-Dave-Brubeck/dp/B0001FGB9...
[+] [-] j2labs|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] clicks|13 years ago|reply
It may sound crass, but I may as well ask: how's Brubeck (the framework) coming along?
[+] [-] wazoox|13 years ago|reply
(trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heAAOVJTLwQ )
[+] [-] dredmorbius|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zimmru|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dreadsword|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] officemonkey|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bambax|13 years ago|reply
I have a theory that people die not long after their birthday, and never before -- meaning that the time from their last birthday < the time before their next birthday (the theory being that they fight to live until their birthday, and then they let go).
Anecdotal evidence gathered among people I knew confirms this, but I would like to test it on a scale that would be statistically significant -- but I don't know where to find the data...
- - -
This specific event would appear to be a counter example, except one can consider that dying "almost" the day of one's birthday doesn't really falsify the theory. He tried to live up to the day of his birthday and almost succeeded.
[+] [-] jschulenklopper|13 years ago|reply
Result: chance to die on your birthday is about 14% higher than any other day of the year; based on investigating time and causes of death of 2 milion people over a period of 40 years. On your birthday, sadly apparent there is a higher chance for a stroke, accidents and suicide. People suffering from a long-time illness like cancer also have a higher chance to die on their birthday.
[+] [-] Stratoscope|13 years ago|reply
I'm still alive, and I plan to outlive my birthday quite a few more times, thank you.
[+] [-] jackfoxy|13 years ago|reply
UPDATE: the show starting at 5PM pacific time today will also be devoted to Dave
[+] [-] a5seo|13 years ago|reply
So grateful they're streaming online. I still donate.
If you live in the Bay Area and don't see a show at Yoshi's, you definitely owe it to yourself...
[+] [-] andrewcooke|13 years ago|reply
(i listen to a fair bit of jazz; respect to the guy - he made one of the famous jazz records - but if he was the first jazz musician on time's cover that, in honesty, says a lot more about time, american culture, and his skin colour (no criticism of brubeck implied - see the article for his impeccable credentials there) than his status as a jazz musician).
[+] [-] objclxt|13 years ago|reply
That's a mistake in the obituary: he was the second jazz musician to make the cover of Time. Louis Armstrong was first, five years earlier in 1949 (http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19490221,00.html)
[+] [-] relaxatorium|13 years ago|reply
"In a long and successful career, Mr. Brubeck helped repopularize jazz at a time when younger listeners had been trained to the sonic dimensions of the three-minute pop single. His quartet’s 1959 recording of “Take Five” was the first jazz single to sell a million copies."
He got a jazz record up the pop charts at a time when that was not really something that was happening.
[+] [-] tsm|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tjr|13 years ago|reply
Basically, he created jazz music that a wide spectrum of people were able to appreciate and enjoy, while at the same time advancing the state of the art.
[+] [-] antoni|13 years ago|reply
Rest in peace, Mr Brubeck.
[+] [-] tonecluster|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pcsanwald|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tokenadult|13 years ago|reply
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns...
[+] [-] psadri|13 years ago|reply