Born: December 6, 1920; Concord, CA
Died: December 5, 2012; Norwalk, CT
Dave Brubeck was one of today's most famous prolific jazz composers and pianists, known worldwide for such pieces as Take Five (written by saxophonist Paul Desmond) and his own compositions In Your Own Sweet Way and Blue Rondo à la Turk. He and the Dave Brubeck Quartet are largely credited with the post-World War II jazz revival as part of the school known as West Coast jazz. The son of a piano teacher and a rancher, he had an early talentRead more for playing and improvising, but had originally planned to be a rancher. After briefly studying veterinary science, he eventually studied music at the College of the Pacific (and was almost not allowed to graduate because he couldn't read music) and, after military service during the war, at Mills College with Darius Milhaud, who further encouraged his interest in jazz. He formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951 with Bob Bates, Joe Dodge, and Desmond, and they released their first album, Jazz at Oberlin, in 1953. Their next album, Jazz Goes to College, was released the next year and sold over 100,000 copies, propelling the quartet and Brubeck to fame. His works became known for their musical sophistication and experimentation, particularly in using unusual time signatures and often combining classical elements with jazz while remaining popular with a mainstream audience as well as jazz and classical aficionados. In 1959, the quartet (with only Brubeck and Desmond of the original four) released its most famous album, Time Out, and Take Five became the first jazz piece to sell more than one million copies. In 1960, Brubeck wrote his first ballet, Points on Jazz, and the next year, a musical-like composition, The Real Ambassadors, which premiered with Louis Armstrong at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival. In 1967, Brubeck left the quartet to pursue other types of compositions, including ballets, operas, cantatas, songs, and a Mass, but continued to perform jazz in guest appearances with other groups. Through the Brubeck Institute, he supported young jazz musicians through scholarships and establishing jazz outreach programs in schools. His sons Matthew, Chris, Darius, and Dan, are also jazz musicians who frequently performed with their father. Read less
Label: Albany Records
Catalog: 1427
Release Date: 09/10/2013
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Dave Brubeck,
Leonard Bernstein,
Aaron Copland,
William Bolcom
Performer:
Bradley Robinson,
Jennifer Robinson
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Wang-Rodgers Piano Duo
Recommendation
Label: Move
Catalog: 3326
Release Date: 02/08/2011
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Franzpeter Goebels,
Andrew Koll,
Alec Templeton,
Antonio Vivaldi
...
Performer:
Elizabeth Anderson,
Rosie Westbrook,
Ariel Valent,
Ron Nagorcka
Recommendation
Label: Analekta
Catalog: 28730
Release Date: 11/09/2010
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Armas Maasalo,
Franz Xaver Gruber,
Albert Périlhou,
Antonio Vivaldi
...
Performer:
Angèle Dubeau
Conductor:
Angèle Dubeau
Orchestra/Ensemble:
La Pieta
Recommendation
Label: Gothic Records
Catalog: 49277
Release Date: 09/28/2010
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Felix Mendelssohn,
Eleanor Daley,
Grant McLachlan,
Traditional
...
Performer:
Leslie Starr,
Jane Marvine,
Anita Thesen,
Sara Nichols
...
Conductor:
Tom Hall
Label: Tudor Records
Catalog: 7047
Release Date: 06/29/2009
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Thad Jones,
Francis Poulenc,
Charlie Parker,
Igor Stravinsky
...
Performer:
Karl-Heinz Steffens,
David Gazarov,
Martin Zehn,
Keith Copeland
...
Conductor:
Karl-Heinz Steffens
Orchestra/Ensemble:
International Connection
Recommendation
Label: Koch International Classics
Catalog: 5637248747
Release Date: 05/24/2009
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Dave Brubeck,
Chris Brubeck,
Scott Joplin,
Johann Sebastian Bach
...
Performer:
Chris Brubeck,
Joel Brown,
Bill Crofut
Conductor:
Joel Revzen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra