![]() He was born on December 6, 1920, in Concord, California, and grew up in Ione, California. ![]() Ancestry and early life īrubeck had Swiss ancestry (the family surname was originally Brodbeck), while his maternal grandparents were English and German. Noted as "one of Jazz's first pop stars" by the Los Angeles Times, Brubeck rejected his fame, and felt uncomfortable with Time magazine featuring him on the cover before Duke Ellington. Brubeck's 1959 album Time Out was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2005. In 2008, Brubeck was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, and a year later, he was given an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. In 1996, Brubeck received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. John Fordham of The Guardian commented: "Brubeck's real achievement was to blend European compositional ideas, very demanding rhythmic structures, jazz song-forms and improvisation in expressive and accessible ways." īrubeck was the recipient of several music awards and honors throughout his lifetime. Brubeck's fusion of classical music and jazz would come to be known as " third stream", although Brubeck's use of third stream would predate the coining of the term. Like many of his contemporaries, Brubeck played into the style of the French composer Darius Milhaud, especially his earlier works, including "Serenade Suite" and "Playland-At-The-Beach". ![]() Brubeck, with Desmond, used elements of West Coast jazz near the height of its popularity, combining them with the unorthodox time signatures seen in Time Out. He expressed elements of atonality and fugue. Brubeck continued releasing music until his death in 2012.īrubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting both his mother's classical training and his own improvisational skills. The quartet followed up Time Out with four other albums in non-standard time signatures, and some of the other songs from this series became hits as well, including " Blue Rondo à la Turk" (in 9Ĥ). The lead single from the album, " Take Five", a tune written by Desmond in 5Ĥ time, similarly became the highest-selling jazz single of all time. Despite its esoteric theme and contrarian time signatures, Time Out became Brubeck's highest-selling album, and the first jazz album to sell over one million copies. ![]() Department of State-sponsored tour in 1958 featuring the band inspired several of Brubeck's subsequent albums, most notably the 1959 album Time Out. This lineup, in addition to Brubeck, featured saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. The most successful-and prolific-lineup of the quartet was the one between 19. In 1951, Brubeck formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which kept its name despite shifting personnel. Within the US Army, Brubeck formed one of the first racially diverse bands. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.īorn in Concord, California, Brubeck was drafted into the US Army, but was spared from combat service when a Red Cross show he had played at became a hit. Sit back, pour a cocktail and ease into your weekend.David Warren Brubeck ( / ˈ b r uː b ɛ k/ Decem– December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Here he is, playing that piece which is the signature of what great jazz can be, both the 1959 recording and a groovy live performance from the same era. To date, the Red Cross receives approximately $100,000 per year from Mr. Upon his death in 1977, Paul Desmond left the performing rights royalties to “Take Five” and all of his compositions to the American Red Cross. It is sexy, flirty, sultry music, where you can almost see the lights dim, the room fill with smoke, and here the rocks clinking in the cocktail coming your way.īut did you know the song had sultry lyrics to match the tune?Ĭarmen McRae recorded the 1961 version with the quartet and her dark, edgy sound, gives the song a completely different feel. Influenced by Bulgarian and Turkish street rhythms that they experienced while on a State Department tour of Eurasia, Brubeck and Desmond played with incorporating the 9/8 syncopation and minor keys they heard while overseas. It has been used in dozens of films, tv shows, theme songs, and remains one of the most played tunes on jazz radio stations. Originally released in 1959, it was two years later when they re-released the song that it took off and remains the biggest selling jazz single of all time. Jazz is the most originally American style of music and if there is a jazz tune that everyone identifies with that genre, it is “Take Five”, written by alto sax man Paul Desmond and performed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
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