Dave, Brubeck

The USA's great gift to world culture, which is the jazz music originating from Black musicians in the segregated South, is recognized and celebrated all over the world. But today in the USA, jazz is now a largely forgotten art form. During the commercial heyday of jazz in the 1950's and 1960's, its musicians would play on overseas tours (some sponsored by the US State Department) where they were granted receptions with heads of states and parades in the streets. Only to return to the US and perform shows at ballrooms, concert halls, and nightclubs that would not serve them food or even let them enter the facility through its front doors.


Enter Dave Brubeck, a white classically trained pianist, who was born 100 years ago in Concord, CA to a cattle wholesaler and a choir director. His recording career began humbly after WWII, playing an innovative form of chamber jazz with an octet. After 1950 he pared his group down to a quartet with his musical counterpart, the saxophonist Paul Desmond. With some notable exceptions, Dave performed in the quartet format for the rest of his life. And he used his quartets to make pioneering advancements in jazz as an art form, and in race relations within the USA. He deserves to be celebrated for both these reasons.


On the musical front, he played in an aggressive and percussive style that utilized block chords instead of the fast, single note runs which were popular with most pianists. He chose to highlight the rhythmic aspects of the standard compositions he played, leaving the melodies largely to his band mates. This musical objective led him to create his own compositions that had unique rhythmic feels and made use of strange time signatures. His critics claimed this music could not swing, and that a doctorate in music theory would be required for average listeners to understand and appreciate what he was playing. But Dave didn't care what they said.


His critics were proved wrong of course, and so was his record label- when disc jockeys started repeatedly playing his 1959 recording of "Take Five." Its measures of five beats to the bar is a meter previously unheard in American music. The song has Dave playing a relentless rhythmic vamp (in 5/4 time) under a memorable lead melody and bridge, and this is followed by short sax, piano, and drum solos. The American public embraced this song. While America was making its own advancements in the space race and nuclear technologies, Dave supplied what turned out to be perfect background music for this age. No Mid-Century cocktail party was complete without Brubeck's music in the background. The album this song came from, "Time Out," features an iconic abstract art painting on its cover, which looked like the prints on the walls you could see in the homes that hosted these cocktail parties. Another song on the LP is performed in 9/8 time. Today the Time Out album is the second highest selling jazz album in history (trailing only the 1959 Miles Davis classic "Kind of Blue").


On the racial front, Dave risked public ridicule and loss of revenue, beginning with his chosen band members. His Black bass player, Eugene Wright integrated the formerly all-white quartet when he was hired in 1958. Dave soon encountered hate mail. Promoters all over the country asked him to replace Eugene with his old, white bassist- so they wouldn't have to stage an integrated band. Dave's response was to cancel at least 23 of these university concerts, as well as a national TV appearance- once he learned the cameras were not going to film Eugene performing. He also refused to play for segregated audiences. At some shows Dave insisted that the Blacks in the audience be moved from the balconies to the empty seats in the front rows, before he took the stage. At other shows police escorts were required for the safety of the quartet.


But Dave's next move was to use his music to show off the absurdity of American segregation. In 1962 he released and performed an album-length musical called "The Real Ambassadors." The plot dealt with the important role that musicians pay as unofficial ambassadors for their country, and that black musicians were best qualified to do so, in spite of the injustices they had to tolerate at home. The vocalists included Jon Hendricks, Carmen McRae, and Louis Armstrong singing words that directly criticized the US government for allowing racism on its own soil. This was prior to the passage of civil rights legislation. Later, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dave released another extended work, "The Gates of Justice." This work dealt with the historic struggles of both Jews and Blacks.


There is also a third reason to celebrate Dave's 100th birthday, and that is the sheer joy in hearing his music, even today. No matter how advanced his compositions became, he and his band always sounded like they were having the time of their lives making this music. And his recordings were always clear and pristine so that this joy could be shared for all time- whether in the studio or live in concert. Today his style of playing remains unique and recognizable, because so few, if any, other pianists could reasonably be called Brubeck copycats. So this year, why not give a listen to the Time Out album, or his concert from Carnegie Hall in 1963, and discover a what a real modern American original and pioneer sounds like.