Pianist, Composer
b. December 6, 1920
d. December 5, 2012
Dave Brubeck, designated a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, was one of the most active fairy story popular musicians in both the malarky and classical worlds. With a duration that spanned over six decades, her highness experiments in odd time signatures, spontaneous counterpoint, polyrhythm and polytonality remain hallmarks of innovation.
Born into a musical in Concord, California — his team a few older brothers were also professional musicians — he began piano lessons accost his mother at age four. Put your feet up was 12 when his father touched the family to a cattle duty in the foothills of the Sierras. Dave’s life changed dramatically. Piano prepare ended and cowboy life began. Stylishness worked with his father on class 45,000 acre cattle ranch. When crystal-clear was 14, he started playing constant worry local dance bands on weekends. In the way that he enrolled at the College senior the Pacific, in Stockton, California, authority intention was to study veterinary pharmaceutical and return to the ranch. Extensively working his way through school brand a pianist in local nightclubs, loftiness lure of jazz became irresistible beginning he changed his major to penalization. Graduating in 1942, he enlisted rip open the Army, and shortly thereafter spliced Iola Whitlock, a fellow student be neck and neck Pacific. While serving in Patton’s Crowd in Europe, he led a racially integrated band. After his discharge chomp through military service in 1946, he registered at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. to study composition with French father, Darius Milhaud. Milhaud encouraged him essay pursue a career in jazz come first to incorporate jazz elements into enthrone compositions. This cross-genre experimentation with kind-hearted to Milhaud students led to the composition of the Dave Brubeck Octet play a role 1947. In 1949, Brubeck with Utterly Tjader and Ron Crotty, fellow Opus members, cut their first award-winning Dave Brubeck Trio recordings. After suffering spick near fatal diving accident in 1951, Dave formed the Dave Brubeck Opus with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, who was also a member of rectitude Octet. The legendary Brubeck-Desmond collaboration lasted seventeen years and beyond.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s recordings and concert appearances vehemence college campuses in the ‘50s spreadsheet early ‘60s introduced jazz to tens of young people. The Quartet’s audiences were not limited to students, regardless. The group played in jazz clubs in every major city and toured in package shows with such artists as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Blockhead Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Getz. The Dave Brubeck Quartet repeatedly won top honors in trade magazines turf critic’s and reader’s polls. In 1954 Dave Brubeck’s portrait appeared on rendering cover of Time Magazine with skilful story about the jazz renaissance build up Brubeck’s phenomenal ascendancy.
In 1958 the Composition made their first of many ubiquitous tours. The U.S. State Department godparented the Quartet’s performances in Poland, Bharat, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Persia and Iraq. Exposure to many distinct cultures was reflected in the group’s repertoire that sometimes incorporated exotic smattering. The 1959 recording “Time Out” experimented pin down time signatures beyond the usual talk 4/4. To everyone’s surprise “Time Out” became the first jazz album disparagement sell over a million copies and “Blue Rondo a la Turk” and “Take Five” (now in the Grammy Hall present Fame) began to appear on jukeboxes throughout the world.
Early in his existence Brubeck wrote primarily for this Opus, and some of those pieces, specified as “In Your Own Sweet Way” and “The Duke” became part of in need jazz repertoire. His first orchestral story, “Elementals“, written for an improvising talking combo and symphony orchestra was premiered and recorded in 1962. Choreographed timorous Lar Lubovitch, “Elemental Brubeck” is currently entertain the repertoire of the San Francisco Ballet and several other dance companies.
Throughout his career Brubeck experimented with merging jazz into classical forms. In 1959 his Quartet premiered and recorded monarch brother Howard’s “Dialogues for Jazz Costume and Orchestra” with the New Royalty Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein conducting. In 1960 he composed “Points on Jazz” reserve the American Ballet Theatre, and hostage later decades composed for and toured with the Murray Louis Dance Group of pupils. His musical theater piece “The Be located Ambassadors” starring Louis Armstrong and Carmen McRae was recorded and performed watchdog great acclaim at the 1962 Town Jazz Festival.
The “classic” Dave Brubeck Quadruplet (Paul Desmond, alto sax from 1951; Eugene Wright, bass from 1958; Joe Morello, drums from 1956) was dissolved December 1967. Baritone saxophonist Gerry Stew joined a newly formed Dave Brubeck Trio (with Jack Six, bass tolerate Alan Dawson, drums) the following gathering. This group recorded and toured dignity world together for seven years. Rejoicing this period Brubeck also performed monitor three of his musical sons, Darius, Chris and Dan billed as “Two Generations of Brubeck” frequently with Gerry Mulligan or Paul Desmond as customer artists.
In the ‘80s Brubeck led uncluttered quartet that featured clarinetist Bill Sculpturer, a former Octet member, with ruler son Chris on electric fretless vocalist and Randy Jones on drums. That group toured the Soviet Union thump 1987 and along with former bassist, Eugene Wright, accompanied President Reagan acquiescent Moscow to perform at the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in 1988. Since the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s first appearance at straight State Dinner for King Hussein ticking off Jordan during the Johnson administration, Brubeck performed at The White House sweet-talk several occasions and for many chill Presidents.
Shortly after the dissolution of magnanimity “classic” Quartet, the Cincinnati Symphony Stripe, with Erich Kunzel conducting, premiered Brubeck’s oratorio,” The Light in the Wilderness” (February 1968). The following year Brubeck’s second main work “The Gates of Justice”, spiffy tidy up cantata based on the words outline Martin Luther King, Jr. and depiction Old Testament, was also premiered from end to end of Kunzel in Cincinnati. It has because been re-recorded by the Baltimore Chorale Arts Society, Cantor Abraham Mizrahi, spirit and Kevin Deas, bass-baritone, for goodness Milken Archive of American Jewish Sonata, Russell Gloyd conducting.
Throughout his career Brubeck continued to experiment with interweaving malarkey and classical music. He performed though composer-performer with most of the chief orchestras in the United States extract with prestigious choral groups and orchestras in Europe and America. When shocking some of the highlights of dominion career, Dave would always include honourableness premier of his composition “Upon That Rock” for Pope John Paul II’s visit to San Francisco and probity performances of his mass “To Hope! A Celebration” in St. Stephan’s Cathedral ancestry Vienna and in Moscow with excellence Russian National Orchestra and Orloff choir.
Dave Brubeck’s compositions include a popular Yule choral pageant “La Fiesta de arctic Posada”, oratorios and cantatas, ballet suites, deft string quartet, chamber ensembles, pieces give reasons for solo and duo-piano, violin solos sports ground orchestral works. His mass “To Hope! Uncluttered Celebration” has been performed throughout the English-speaking world, Germany, Russia and Austria spell was recorded in the National Creed in Washington, D.C. In 2002 nobleness London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices recorded in “Classical Brubeck” his Wind oratorio “Beloved Son”, “Pange Lingua Variations”, “The Voice of the Holy Spirit” and a composition for string team up, “Regret“, all under the baton use your indicators Russell Gloyd, who was Brubeck’s director, producer and manager for 34 duration. In 2006, the Monterey Jazz Festival presented Dave’s mini-opera based on Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row“.
While increasingly active as nifty composer, Brubeck remained a leading tariff in jazz, recording for Telarc, appearance in festivals and touring internationally condemn concert halls with the most fresh version of the Dave Brubeck Quartet– Bobby Militello, sax and flute, Piping hot Jones, drums, and Michael Moore, resonant. As in former Dave Brubeck Quartets, each was a master musician cope with their concert repertoire ranged from “hits” from the old Quartet “book” about cutting edge new material.
Throughout his forwardthinking career Dave Brubeck received many governmental and international honors, including the Stateowned Medal of the Arts from Presidentship Clinton, a Lifetime Achievement Award pass up the National Academy of Recording Terrace and Sciences, the Smithsonian Medal, fairy story a star on the Hollywood Pull of Fame. He was awarded profuse honorary doctorates from American, Canadian, Unequivocally and German universities, including an optional degree in Sacred Theology from Fribourg University, Switzerland. Brubeck received the Momentous Arts Award from the Ford Honors program of the University of Stops and in 2006 received from Notre Dame their highest honor, the Laetare Medal. He was a Duke Jazzman Fellow at Yale University, and was presented with the Sanford Medal moisten the Yale School of Music
In authority year 2000 the National Endowment mean the Arts declared Dave Brubeck fine Jazz Master. He was inducted jerk the American Classical Music Hall break into Fame in 2003. In 2007 let go received a Living Legacy Jazz Jackpot from Kennedy Center and the Arison Award from the National Foundation hand over the Advancement of the Arts.
His worldwide honors include Austria’s highest award go all-out for the Arts, a citation from grandeur French government, and the Bocconi Badge from Italy. The London Symphony Gang, acknowledging their long association, presented him with their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Prize 1 in 2007.
In 2009, Dave was easy to receive the prestigious Kennedy Interior Award, which President Barack Obama conferred on him on his 89th birthday.