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Dave Brubeck (born December 6, 1920 in Concord, California) is an American jazz pianist who wrote a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke." Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, showing both his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. Much of his music makes use of unusual time signatures; his long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote what is arguably the quartet's most famous song, "Take Five" (which is in 5/4 time). Brubeck experimented with time signatures through much of his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, and "Blue Rondo A La Turk" in 9/8, an experimentation begun with his attempts to put music to the odd rhythms generated by various machines around him on his parents' cattle ranch in a small town in the western United States. "Blue Rondo A La Turk" is a play on Mozart's "Rondo alla Turca", and the 9/8 metre of traditional Turkish music, the country in which the band was touring when the tune was written.
Brubeck's mother studied piano in England and intended to become a concert pianist; at home she taught piano for extra money. Brubeck was not particularly interested in learning by any certain method, but preferred to create his own melodies; and so he avoided learning to read sheet music. In college Brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he could not read sheet music. Several of his professors came forward arguing for his ability with counterpoint and harmonyThis article is about musical harmony. For other uses of the term, see Harmony (disambiguation) . Harmony is the art of using pitch simultaneity (or chords, actual or implied) in music. It is sometimes referred to as the "vertical" aspect of music, with m, but the school was still afraid that it would cause a scandal, and only agreed to let Brubeck graduate once Brubeck promised never to teach piano.
After graduating from the University of the PacificThe University of the Pacific formerly College of the Pacific is an independent university, first chartered in 1851 under the name California Wesleyan College. It was the state's first institution for higher learning. The University of the Pacific has thr in 1942Events January January 1 World War II: The word " United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact. January 2 World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. January 5 Amy Johnson disappears in flight over River Thames estuary ass, Brubeck was drafted into the army and served overseas in George Patton's Third Army during the Battle of the BulgeThe German Ardennes Offensive starting in late December 1944, popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive on the Western Front in World War II. It was intended that the German army would split the Allied line in half, ca. He played in a band, quickly integrating it and gaining both popularity and deference. He returned to college after serving nearly 4 years in the army, this time attending Mills CollegeMills College is a private women's liberal arts college located in Oakland, California. History Mills was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary at Benicia in 1852. In 1865, missionaries Cyrus and Susan Mills purchased the seminary, and in 1871 they relocat and studying under Darius MilhaudDarius Milhaud ( September 4, 1892 June 22, 1974) was a French- Jewish composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. Milhaud was born in Aix-en-Provence and studied in Paris under Charles Wido, who encouraged him to study fugue and orchestration but not classical piano. (Oddly enough, most critics consider Brubeck something of a classical pianist playing jazz.)
After completing his studies under Milhaud, Brubeck started an octet including Cal Tjader and Paul Desmond. The octet was highly experimental, made few recordings, and got even fewer paying jobs. A bit discouraged, Brubeck started a trio with two of the members, not including Desmond, who had a gig of his own, and spent several years playing nothing but jazz standards. Brubeck then formed The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951, which consisted of Joe Dodge on drums, Bob Bates on bass, Paul Desmond on saxophone, and of course Brubeck on piano. In the mid-1950s Bates and Dodge were respectively replaced by Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. Eugene Wright is African-American; in the late 1950s Brubeck cancelled many concerts because the club owners wanted him to bring a different bassist. He also cancelled a television appearance when he found out that the venue intended to keep Wright off-camera.
In 1959 the Dave Brubeck Quartet released Time Out, an album their label was enthusiastic about but nonetheless hesitant to release. The album contained all original compositions, almost none of which were in common time. Nonetheless, on the strength of these unusual time signatures (the album included "Take Five", "Blue Rondo A La Turk", and "Pick Up Sticks"), it quickly went platinum. The quartet followed up its success with several more albums in the same vein, including Time Further Out, Time in Outer Space, and Time Changes. These albums were also known for using contemporary paintings as cover art, featuring the work of Neil Fujita on Time Out, Joan Miró on Time Further Out, Franz Kline on Time in Outer Space, and Sam Francis on Time Changes.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet broke up in 1967 except for a 25th anniversary reunion in 1976; Brubeck continued playing with Desmond and then began recording with Gerry Mulligan. Desmond died in 1977 and left everything, including residuals and the immense royalties for "Take Five", to the American Red Cross. Mulligan and Brubeck recorded together for six years and then Brubeck formed another group with Jerry Bergonzi on saxophone, and three of his sons, Dan , Darius , and Chris , on drums, bass, and keyboards. Brubeck continues to write new works, including orchestrations and ballet scores, and tours about 80 cities each year, usually 20 of them in Europe in the spring. In recent years his quartet has included alto saxophonist Bobby Militello, bassist Alec Dankworth (who replaced Jack Six ), and drummer Randy Jones.
