Thursday, December 6, 2012

Dave Brubeck R.I.P.


He was whimsically erudite. It’s impossible for me to limit anything to one sentence or one statement but if I had to, that would be how I’d characterize Brubeck. And if allowed only one more sentence, I’d try to convey my love of his thick, chunky chords with sprinkles of more lightly touched, syncopated, now signature, rhythms. Offered a third sentence, I'd try to capture how elegantly he and Paul Desmond put 9/8 and 4/4 meters in the back of the family station wagon, with snacks, and told them to play pretty together during the drive.
What a great 91 year run Mr. Brubeck had…in a marrow sucking… “let’s get/give all of this while we can” kinda way…really, really living and really present. Most everyone I reckon, will be hearing Blue Rondo A La Turk or  Take Five in the background as news spots and online articles give him his due. But I’ve found something else to share with you. I love the clip below because it conveys Mr. Brubeck’s genius, his poised affability and most of all…his humanity.

Onward.
ADG II



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brandenburg Gate: Revisited

pure genius

Anonymous said...

Paul Desmond. My dad would always have Desmond playing in his car when I would go to flea markets with him. I played Desmond's Bridge Over Troubled Water album at my dad's funeral. I hope he heard.

Gail, in northern California said...

Thanks for sharing that wonderful little clip.

When my husband attended Drake High School in San Anselmo, CA in the 50's, he said one day they enjoyed a rare treat...Dave Brubeck at Assembly. It was the first time he heard a musical performer live and couldn't believe his good fortune that it was Dave Brubeck.

And, no doubt Mr. Brubeck did it for free.

ADG said...

Gail...that's a great story. Kinda captures the essence of Brubeck's humanity, no?

AnonPaulDesmond...your dad was a Renaissance Man.

AnonBrandenGate...Pure genius. Indeed.