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Dave Brubeck Quartet

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Dave Brubeck Quartet was founded in 1951 by the American pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. Brubeck was born in 1920 in Concord, California, and received piano lessons from his mother, who had had a classical training. In the army he had already formed one of the first bands of black and white musicians. The quartet kept its name even when the line-up changed. The most successful line-up played from 1958 to 1967: besides Brubeck, the saxophonist Paul Desmond, the bassist Eugene Wright and the drummer Joe Morello.

Music and breakthrough

In 1958 the quartet made a tour commissioned by the American State Department. That trip inspired the album Time Out (1959). Despite the unusual time signatures, it became the first jazz record to sell more than a million copies. Take Five, written by Desmond in 5/4 time, became the best-selling jazz single ever. Blue Rondo à la Turk, in nine beats, also became a hit. The quartet went on to make four more albums with unusual time signatures, including Time Further Out (1961) with Unsquare Dance.

Influence

The group is regarded as one of the most important names in Cool Jazz and West Coast jazz. Brubeck combined jazz with ideas from European classical music, such as fugues and the work of the French composer Darius Milhaud. According to critics, his strength lay in making complicated rhythms and compositions accessible. Brubeck kept making music until his death in 2012.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Unsquare Dance (1961). Count along: every bar has seven beats. Notice the handclaps that mark the rhythm and how the bass and piano still move smoothly in that unusual metre.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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See also

Categories: Artists