Dave Brubeck

• Born: December 6, 1920
• Birthplace: Concord, California
• Died: December 5, 2012
• Place of death: Norwalk, Connecticut

American jazz composer and pianist

As a composer, pianist, and leader of an influential quartet, Brubeck introduced unusual time signatures, polyrhythms, and polytonalities to the jazz world.

Member of The Dave Brubeck Quartet

The Life

Born in 1920 in Concord, California, David Warren Brubeck was attracted to music at an early age, influenced by his mother, a piano teacher. His childhood ambition was to be a cattle rancher, emulating his father, who owned a forty-five-thousand-acre ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Brubeck combined his daily ranch chores with playing the piano in local dance bands. Persuaded by his parents, Brubeck enrolled as a veterinary student at the College of the Pacific in Stockton. However, a year later, he was majoring in music. He married Iola Marie Whitlock, the host of a weekly campus radio show.

Following college graduation in 1942, Brubeck was drafted into the Army, and he spent World War II playing piano to entertain the troops. After his discharge, Brubeck enrolled at Mills College in Oakland to study with Darius Milhaud, the renowned French composer. At Mills College, he studied polytonality, counterpoint, and other classical music topics. Nevertheless, he retained his fascination with jazz, which was encouraged by Milhaud.

In 1947 Brubeck began his professional jazz career in a San Francisco nightclub, the Geary Cellar, with an octet. At that time a serious swimming accident forced him to interrupt his career for several months. After his recovery, Brubeck formed his first quartet, with saxophonist Paul Desmond, drummer Joe Dodge, and bassist Bob Bates. The quartet played a series of nightclub and college engagements and recorded albums for a few years, gaining great notoriety. In 1954 Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time. Joe Morello, a highly regarded drummer, replaced Dodge in 1956. Eugene Wright replaced Bates on bass soon thereafter. The Dave Brubeck Quartet released one acclaimed album after another from the mid-1950s through the mid-1960s.

Despite the success in recordings and appearances, Brubeck dissolved this classic version of his quartet in 1967. He began to compose in other idioms, such as ballets, liturgical music, and symphonic works.

Brubeck performed for Presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a National Medal of the Arts, and was a Kennedy Center Honoree. He was inducted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame, and he was granted honorary doctorate degrees from six universities. He died of heart failure in 2012 at the age of ninety-one. He and his wife, Iola, had six children, four of whom became professional musicians.

The Music

Brubeck’s early career coincided with the gradual decline of the big band era and the development of bop. Following a different path, Brubeck used his training in classical music and composition to develop a jazz piano style that was suitable for small combo settings.

Early Years. Advised by his Mills College mentor, Milhaud, to pursue jazz, Brubeck assembled an octet with other Milhaud disciples. Among them were Cal Tjader (vibraphone) and Desmond (alto saxophone), who would later become iconic figures in jazz. The octet gave way to a trio, which won the Down Beat Best Small Combo Award in 1949. The trio expanded to a quartet with the addition of Desmond in 1951. The contrasting improvisations of Brubeck and Desmond proved to be a winning blend.

Jazz at College. The early edition of the Dave Brubeck Quartet employed various bassists and drummers, but Desmond was a fixture. With a steady engagement at the Blackhawk in San Francisco, the quartet was able to expand to other performance venues. Brubeck’s wife, Iola, wrote to colleges across the United States, soliciting invitations for the quartet to appear on campus. The effort paid off. It was estimated that during one college tour the quartet performed sixty “one-nighters” in a row. The campus concerts produced steady income and broad exposure, and, importantly, they introduced jazz to a new generation. College students demonstrated their support by faithfully buying the quartet’s recordings: Jazz at Oberlin, Jazz Goes to College, and Jazz Goes to Junior College, among others. The college-concert period set the stage for Brubeck’s innovative and experimental ideas.

The Classic Quartet. The addition of Morello on drums and Wright on bass solidified the quartet. Instead of a homogeneous group of musicians with similar personalities, tastes, and styles, the Dave Brubeck Quartet comprised four individualistic musicians, unafraid to take risks. Brubeck could easily shift from powerful chords to subtle nuances as the music demanded. Desmond’s silky, feathery alto tone provided lyrical melodies, even in improvisational solos. Wright on bass was a steadying influence, playing in a traditional style reminiscent of earlier jazz eras. Morello possessed a keen ability to play in difficult meter signatures and still maintain a strong swing feel. Together, they complemented as well as inspired each other.

“Take Five.” Brubeck first encountered odd meters when traveling to Turkey and Africa, and he realized their potential for use in American-style jazz. The landmark album Time Out proved to be a turning point in jazz history: It included the jazz classics “Take Five” in 5/4 time and “Blue Rondo à la Turk” with a mixture of meter signatures, including 9/8 time. The management of Columbia Records and the producer of the album were fearful this innovative music style strayed too far from the standards on the successful college albums. The quartet, however, refused to compromise. Time Out went gold, “Take Five” was a gigantic hit, and Columbia relented. Time Further Out, Countdown: Time in Outer Space, and similar albums followed.

Polyrhythm and Polytonality. Besides experimenting with odd meters, Brubeck infused polyrhythm and polytonality into the quartet’s music. Polyrhythm involves multiple rhythms being played simultaneously. The ideal drum-set artist, Morello could play four different rhythms at once, using hands and feet separately, and at the same time he could synchronize the various rhythms throughout the composition.

The use of polytonalities was another step in the quartet’s evolution. The standard procedure for a composer is to write a tune in a major or minor key, and musicians perform it in the original key or transpose it to another. However, the melody remains in one key at a time. Brubeck’s polytonal approach was to layer his compositions so that two or three different keys were employed together. Traditionalists rejected such unconventional techniques, but Brubeck never wavered in his determination to compose and perform music his way.

West Coast Jazz. Some viewed Brubeck as a member of the West Coast, or cool, jazz style because he was based in California when West Coast jazz flourished. In reality, Brubeck played the piano in a heavy, aggressive style, atypical of ethereal and lyrical cool jazz. With Desmond applying the lighter touch, Brubeck was free to provide the contrast that the quartet utilized so successfully.

Indian Summer. In 2007 Brubeck produced this retrospective solo piano recording. The album featured new Brubeck compositions along with a collection of standards and ballads, performed with sensitivity and restraint. Full of nostalgia, Indian Summer showed Brubeck coming full circle, back to his roots.

Musical Legacy

During his long and successful career, Brubeck created a wide audience for jazz and endeared himself to fans. His body of work is sophisticated and pioneering as well as voluminous, and his signature piece, “Take Five,” is familiar to even the most casual jazz, and nonjazz, listeners. Brubeck’s alma mater honors his legacy in the Brubeck Institute of the University of the Pacific, established in recognition of Brubeck and his wife, Iola. It preserves Brubeck’s educational and creative musical contributions and perpetuates his interests in environmental issues, social issues, and international relations. The institute manages the Brubeck archives and sponsors a jazz festival, an outreach program, a fellowship program, and a summer jazz colony.

Bibliography

Hall, Fred. It’s about Time. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1996.

Martin, Henry. Enjoying Jazz. New York: Schirmer Books, 1986.

Megill, David W., and Paul O. W. Tanner. Jazz Issues: A Critical History. Madison, Wis.: Brown and Benchmark, 1995.

Ostransky, Leroy. Understanding Jazz. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977.

Ratliff, Ben. "Dave Brubeck, Whose Distinctive Sound Gave Jazz New Pop, Dies at 91." The New York Times, 5 Dec. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/arts/music/dave-brubeck-jazz-musician-dies-at-91.html. Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.

Taylor, Billy. Jazz Piano: History and Development. Dubuque, Iowa: W. C. Brown, 1982.

Principal Recordings

albums:Brubeck Trio with Cal Tjader, Vol. 1, 1949; Brubeck Trio with Cal Tjader, Vol. 2, 1949; Brubeck/Desmond, 1951; Dave Brubeck Quartet, 1951; Stardust, 1951; Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond, 1952; Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond at Wilshire-Ebell, 1953; Jazz at Oberlin, 1953; Brubeck Time, 1954; Jazz Goes to College, 1954; Paul and Dave’s Jazz Interwoven, 1954; Brubeck Plays Brubeck, 1956; Distinctive Rhythm Instrumentals, 1956; Jazz Impressions of the U.S.A., 1956; Dave Digs Disney, 1957; Jazz Goes to Junior College,1957; Plays and Plays and . . ., 1957; Reunion, 1957; Dave Brubeck Plays Solo, 1958; Gone with the Wind, 1959; The Riddle, 1959; Southern Scene, 1959; Time Out, 1959; Brubeck a La Mode, 1960; Brubeck and Rushing, 1960; Brubeck Plays Bernstein Plays Brubeck, 1960; Tonight Only, 1960; Brandenburg Gate: Revisited, 1961; Near-Myth, 1961; Real Ambassadors, 1961; Time Further Out, 1961; Angel Eyes, 1962; Bossa Nova USA, 1962; Countdown: Time in Outer Space, 1962; Gold and Fizdale Play Dave Brubeck’s Jazz Ballet, 1962; Music from West Side Story, 1962; Time Changes, 1963; Jazz Impressions of Japan, 1964; Jazz Impressions of New York, 1964; Anything Goes: The Music of Cole Porter, 1965; Time In, 1965; Jackpot!, 1966; My Favorite Things, 1966; Compadres, 1967; Blues Roots, 1968; The Light in the Wilderness: An Oratorio for Today, 1968; The Gates of Justice, 1969; The Dave Brubeck Trio with Gerry Mulligan and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 1970; Elementals for Jazzcombo, Orchestra, and Baritone-Solo, 1970; Adventures in Time, 1972; We’re All Together Again (For the First Time), 1972; All the Things We Are, 1973; Truth Is Fallen, 1973; Two Generations of Brubeck, 1973; Brother, the Great Spirit Made Us All, 1974; 1975: The Duets, 1975; La fiesta de la posada (Festival of the Inn), 1976; A Cut Above, 1978; Back Home, 1979; Tritonis, 1980; Paper Moon, 1981; Concord on a Summer Night, 1982; For Iola, 1984; Reflections, 1985; Blue Rondo, 1986; Moscow Night, 1987; New Wine, 1987; Quiet as the Moon, 1988; Sound of Jazz, 1988; Once When I Was Young, 1991; Trio Brubeck, 1993; In Their Own Sweet Way, 1994; Jazz Sonatas, 1994; Just You, Just Me, 1994; Young Lions and Old Tigers, 1994; A Dave Brubeck Christmas, 1996; To Hope! A Celebration, 1996; One Alone, 1997; So What’s New, 1998; The Crossing, 2000; On Time, 2001; I Hear a Rhapsody, 2002; V and J, 2002; Brubeck in Chattanooga, 2003; Classical Brubeck, 2003; Private Brubeck Remembers, 2004; London Flat, London Sharp, 2005; Songs, 2005; Brubeck Piano Compositions, 2006; Rondo, 2006; Indian Summer, 2007.

singles: “Old Sound from San Francisco,” 1954.