Search Results for: Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck is spending his 90th birthday in the midst of his sizeable family and many close friends. Chances are that they will take time out to watch the documentary about his life. As they reminisce, it's almost certain that Dave will tell a Blackhawk story or two. The club in San Francisco's Tenderloin district was his quartet's headquarters for years before and after they became famous. It was the location of a pilot for a television series that never get off the ground. Mort Sahl, a … [Read more...]

Dave Brubeck is getting a lot of attention. With his 90th birthday three days away, he is the subject of performance reviews, articles and editorials in dozens of newspapers from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and Britain's Guardian. His music is being played over the air to a degree unprecedented since the early 1960s, when "Take Five" was a popular hit. On National Public Radio, Terry Gross replays her 1999 Fresh Air interview with Brubeck. Viewers of … [Read more...]

Dave Brubeck's new pacemaker seems to be working. Here's a headline from this morning's Worcester (MA) Telegram-Gazette: Brubeck makes up-tempo return Ticker repaired, pianist keeps beat To read a review of Friday night's concert in Worcester, go here. We have found no explanation of why Chris Smith and Cody Cox were substituting for Michael Moore and Randy Jones, Brubeck's regular bassist and drummer. … [Read more...]

Dave Brubeck's 90th birthday is on December 6. Observances are beginning. This weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under music director William Schrickel will play a celebratory concert with three pieces by Brubeck. They include one of his first extended orchestral works, Elementals, and the U.S. premiere of an adaptation for solo violin and strings of "Sleep, Holy Infant" from La Fiesta de la Posada. Three others pieces on the program are by George Gershwin, … [Read more...]

Ending this Rifftides mini-series of videos from the Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1964 appearance on Belgian television is—what else?—the number that became a popular hit in a best-selling album and for Desmond, its composer, an annuity that by terms of his will is still funneling large amounts of money to the Red Cross. The quartet included it in all of their concerts around the world, lest there be disappointed audiences. This version has a brief solo from Desmond, an elegiac one from … [Read more...]

More or less from the beginning of their association, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond had an affinity for blues in minor keys. Three that achieved success to the point of indelible identification with them were "Balcony Rock," first recorded in Jazz Goes To College (1954), the same theme recycled as "Audrey" for Brubeck Time (1956), and "Koto Song" from Jazz Impressions Of Japan (1964). "Koto Song" was a new entry in the quartet's repertoire when they played it on television in Belgium in '64. … [Read more...]

From a DBQ television appearance in Europe, we have the piece that served as the quartet's concert opener for more than a decade. First, a couple of observations, one from me, one from Eugene Wright: From me: Whoever decreed that white men can't play the blues never really listened to Desmond and Brubeck personalize the idiom as they do in their solos here. Gene's observation is a quotation in a book about Desmond. The first part of it applies to his relationship with Morello from the beginning … [Read more...]

This time, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Gene Wright and Joe Morello play "In Your Own Sweet Way." Because of the quality of the song, the quartet's popularity and the Miles Davis seal of approval, by the time of this performance in 1964 it was a jazz standard. Attention, tune detectives: Brubeck's Matt Dennis quote suggests that he might have been thinking of disbanding, but the quartet's dissolution was five years away. For the first part of this mini-series, see the July 10 entry below. There … [Read more...]

Concert videos from out of the past continue to materialize on the internet. Recent emanations include several pieces from a 1964 appearance in Belgium by the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet. The excellent picture and sound quality and the absence of applause suggest that the performances were in a television broadcast. Over the next few days, we will bring you several of the clips, beginning with "Three to Get Ready." It has a couple of rough edges, but with a band that had this much fun, who … [Read more...]

As long as the YouTube benefactor in Holland keeps posting new segments from that 1972 Dave Brubeck concert in Rotterdam, Rifftides will keep bringing them to you. The piece that just popped up, "Someday My Prince Will Come," was a staple in the classic Brubeck quartet's repertoire before it disbanded in 1969. Paul Desmond reaches into what he would no doubt refer to as his bag of tricks for a brilliant use of repetition (which amuses Alan Dawson), one of his celebrated duets with himself, blues … [Read more...]

Two more pieces have emerged from the Dutch YouTube contributor who is posting segments of a remarkable Dave Brubeck concert in Rotterdam in 1972. The core unit was the Brubeck trio with bassist Jack Six and drummer Alan Dawson. Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan were the guest saxophonists on the Newport Jazz Festival tour. Unlike many YouTube videos, these are of high visual quality and hold up in the full-screen mode. Don't miss Six and Dawson enjoying the metric play at 5:15 of the second clip. … [Read more...]

The counterpoint that Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond generated in the early-to-mid 1950s leads many serious listeners to consider the period the creative height of their partnership. For all the success of their later work, including "Take Five," after the late fifties counterpoint was a less frequent, less concentrated part of their work. There were exceptions, even after the Brubeck quartet disbanded in 1969. One came during a brief stage when the temporarily reconstituted quartet featured … [Read more...]

The 2010 Brubeck Festival opens today at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Occasional Rifftides contributor Paul Conley of Capitol Public Radio in Sacramento spoke with Dave and Iola Brubeck about the history of the institute. Among the stories is Brubeck's recollection of the early connection between one of his brothers and an emerging young band leader and arranger named Gil Evans. To hear Paul's report, go here and click on "Listen." … [Read more...]

On his excellent blog, Jazz Profiles, Steve Cerra's new subject is Dave Brubeck. He is taking for his text the extensive booklet notes I wrote for the four-CD Brubeck box called Time Signatures: A Career Retrospective. When it popped up today, I read the essay for the first time in years. To adapt what Paul Desmond used to say about recording, I didn't have to cough too often during the playback. To read the first of three parts and see the photographs Mr. Cerra integrated into the text, go … [Read more...]

On the heels of the announcement that he is a 2009 Kennedy Center honoree, Dave Brubeck wrapped up a rare extended club engagement, part of his latest western tour. Sunday, at the helm of the "new" edition of the quartet he has headed since 1951, the 88-year-old pianist and composer played to a packed house for the final set of a four-night engagement at Seattle's Jazz Alley. Brubeck has come a long way in his recovery from a viral infection that put him out of action last spring. In … [Read more...]

YouTube has posted a few excerpts from programs the Dave Brubeck Quartet did for BBC television in 1964. The musical and the black and white video quality are superb. In the first one, I am struck by Brubeck's delicacy at the keyboard and by the fullness of Paul Desmond's alto saxophone sound. The critic Steve Race was the program host. Race interviews Brubeck leading into a feature for bassist Eugene Wright. In the discussion, Brubeck earnestness and shyness are as noteworthy as Wright's … [Read more...]

The news from Connecticut is that Dave Brubeck's two-week hospitalization for a viral infection is at an end. The setback made him miss the premiere in California last week of a new orchestral work inspired by Ansel Adams. He and his son Chris had been working on it for a year. Brubeck is back home and back at work, but his doctors felt that a transcontinental trip was not a good idea for a recuperating 88-year-old. In advance of the premiere, Paul Conley spoke with the Brubecks, father and … [Read more...]

Just wanted you to know that FINALLY we have a website. It's still in formation and we welcome any suggestions. It was created by Brian Chauley, former Fellow at Brubeck Institute and now assistant to the Exec. Director. We hope to do more by the addition of a newsletter and more photographs, and current news re: concerts etc. So visit us at davebrubeck.com. Happy Spring to All! Dave and Iola … [Read more...]

Someone known to me only by the e-mail handle "Bloorondo" pointed out links to a pair of Dave Brubeck video performances new to me and, perhaps, to you. The first, "All The Things You Are," was at a concert in Berlin in 1972 when Gerry Mulligan was the saxophonist in the Brubeck Quartet and Paul Desmond joined them on tour. Jack Six was the bassist, Alan Dawson the drummer. Brubeck, Mulligan and Six are turned out in seventies fashions, including lots of hair. Be sure to notice Brubeck's … [Read more...]

Whether sponsored by the State Department or off to see the world on their own, the Dave Brubeck Quartet practiced their share of cultural diplomacy in the 1950s and '60s. You Tube, that never-ending source of surprises and occasional frustrations, has come up with video of the DBQ on a 1962 Australian television program. The story goes that the tape of the show was lost for more than two decades and barely saved from destruction once it was found. It includes contrived conversations that, like … [Read more...]

Here is a listening tip for Friday, December 7, gleaned from a Dave Brubeck Quartet listserve: To celebrate pianist Dave Brubeck's 87th birthday, Alyn Shipton introduces part of a conversation with Brubeck recorded during his quartet's 40th anniversary tour of the UK, in which he selects some of his favourite recordings from a catalogue that includes over 100 albums. As well as such perennial favourites as "Take Five" by his historic quartet with Paul Desmond, Brubeck also looks at his … [Read more...]

Gail Pettis, May I Come In? (Origin). In her recording debut, the Seattle singer chooses a mixture of familiar standards and less-well-known songs, delivering them with warmth and intelligent interpretation. Pettis concentrates on serving songwriters' intentions, but her delighted treatment of Jimmy McHugh's "I Just Found Out About Love" includes one of two scatting episodes in the collection. She scats with musicianly understanding of harmony. There is not a lot of that going around among … [Read more...]

Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond in duo were one of the great treats of the seventies even as Desmond contended with the lung cancer that was soon to end his life. Someone caught one of their reunions on tape--a short blues performance culminating in the "Audrey" or "Balcony Rock" melody that they favored for more than a quarter of a century. This is another example of why Desmond said that Brubeck was his ideal accompanist. … [Read more...]

Good old video keeps surfacing. The new Jazz Icons series of DVDs (about which, more later) is a prime example. Short clips show up on YouTube, Google, Yahoo and whatever new video sites have materialized in the past half hour. A recent addition to the YouTube gallery is a 1961 performance in Holland by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. They play "St. Louis Blues," for years Brubeck's concert opener. All hands solo at length following Brubeck's introduction, beginnning with Paul Desmond's five choruses … [Read more...]

The You Tube website has put up a seven-minute video of the Dave Brubeck Quartet playing Brubeck's "London Flat London Sharp" at the North Sea Jazz Festival. Sound, production qualiy, camera work and direction—except for one brief asleep-at-the-switch moment—are excellent. Bobby Militello's alto solo is one of the most cogent I've heard from him. It's interesting to watch Brubeck digging Michael Moore as he comps for Moore's bass solo. The first half of Brubeck's own solo is about as close to … [Read more...]

Blogger John Salmon of Magritte's Apple writes a followup to the recent review of a Dave Brubeck concert: I did a little review of Dave's Mass the other day. Randy Jones and Bobby Militello are veterans of the Maynard Ferguson band, one of jazz's great farm teams. When Bobby was on MF's band he played baritone (and some flute); it's nice to see that with Dave he gets to play an instrument that won't wreck his back. I'm wondering if others find themselves enjoying Brubeck's playing more today … [Read more...]