jazz - piano: dave brubeck

Dave Brubeck was born in 1920 in Concord California, a small town near San Francisco. He was the youngest of 3 sons, all of them musical. Brubeck began to improvise tunes at age 4 (his mother, a pianist, jotted them down). The family moved to a ranch when he was 11, and in that period of relative isolation he listened to jazz records and continued learning his way around the piano. Even though Dave's father wanted him to be a rancher, or a veterinarian, Dave chose music and studied it in College, and then embarked on a career as jazz pianist and composer in the early 1940's.

Starting in the late 40's and early 50's, Dave Brubeck began to make his mark: the innovative Octet, then his Trio, then his classic Quartet made a huge impact on music in that period. Brubeck was on the cover of Time Magazine in 1954, and had the first million-selling jazz record in 1959 with the celebrated tune "Take Five" from the album Time Out. There was another stellar quartet in the 70's, and a series of compositions that combind classical music and jazz.

Lately Brubeck is active in the "Brubeck Institute," a program for young jazz players, and tours widely. His 1968 piece "The Gates of Justice" has been released on CD, and his latest solo piano recording features World War II songs: it is called Private Brubeck Remembers.

taken from wnyc.org

Take Five