Happy B-day, Dave Brubeck! Born December 6, 1920.
Proving he’s still a high achiever, the most selling-est, winning-est, decorated-est jazz protagonist of the West Coast and beyond – and the man more than likely indirectly responsible for the ever popular bifurcated “argument” over quarter note pulses and eighth note pulses — is 90. That’s a lot of beats per life measure, considering how many of his colleagues’ lives ended before their time. Another feat of timelessness from a jazz composer who taught plebes to count in 5/4, the public a few favorite things in fast 3, and Polly to want a polyrhythm in 9/8 ala “Blue Rondo Ala Turk”, (a play on Mozart’s “Rondo alla Turca”) to spin along with her Henry Mancini albums. All from a guy who was told that his graduation from college was strictly contingent upon a promise not to instruct anyone in piano.
Brubeck’s mother was responsible for his and his siblings’ initial musical education. He studied piano in addition to performing his daily chores on his father’s Southern California ranch. But, he was happy and more than certain that he wanted to become a veterinarian. He began college with that in mind. But, forget cattle punching; the wooing of the mooing livestock was utterly lost to his nightly piano key punching job on school nights at the local jazz clubs. Thank goodness for his lack of haymaking in animal husbandry. He changed his major to music, and squeaking by without being a crack sight reader, played pretty, but much by ear — pretty much, a no-no at a conservatory. He was almost thrown out of school. But, he graduated, and not long afterward, was drafted into World War II.
Domesticated beasts and a structured stint in the army as a band leader (with a subsequent return to studying) paved way for the wild, complicated beats that Brubeck, along with mates the likes of Paul Desmond, Joe Morello, and Eugene Wright (and various and sundry others, including Gerry Mulligan) made up as “The Dave Brubeck Quartet”. With “Take Five” (written by Desmond) polyrhythmic jazz became accessible to the masses: a clean, linear sound that Bru-beckoned the hip to be un-square. Audiences made a beeline to hear them perform. The quartet’s ditties inverted popular music and the invariants 2 and 4 into a whirl of syncopated mathematical modules that quickened and slowed pulses magically through metronomic melody. This was game changing playing and jazz became better (5)/4 it.
Dave Brubeck is the most real fake any Real or Fake Book instruction could ever produce…thank goodness for those college professors of his who pointed out to the jury that, contrapuntal to the academic norm, an affinity for harmony and rhythmic experimentation with an intuitive compositional skill was as valid as the ability to contextualize music on a page.
Though not the rule, in Brubeck’s case, those who do – teach – and those who don’t go on to become highly lauded creators. Among the many rewards that came from introducing jazz to a broader audience: a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a National Medal of the Arts. He was also named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University; has had honorary doctorate degrees bestowed upon him (I’m losing count of how many); and received a doctorate degree from Duisberg University — a German university – a distinguished first for any jazz musician. And he was the 2nd jazz artist to make the cover of TIME (fitting): following in the footsteps of legend Louis Armstrong. Not bad for fudging it.
Though not the critic’s “private stash of jazz virtuosity” discerning connoisseurs thrive on hoarding from the hordes, Brubeck is a composer of renown to musicians and public alike. If being dissed for being POPular is his 40 lashes for creating such measurably memorable compositions as “40 Days” and “In Your Own Sweet Way” — 4 get about it! Besides introducing the world to syncopation and being known for some of the highest grossing jazz albums of all time, what more of a legacy does a jazzman need?
Happy Birthday, Mr. Brubeck — a true gentleman and scholar.
Hey — Please consider donating to the Jazz Foundation of America as a birthday present to Mr. Brubeck. He supports their mission: to save the homes, and in many cases, the lives of elderly jazz and blues musicians.