Dave Brubeck

January 6, 2020
Music journalist Clark explores the life of composer and bandleader Dave Brubeck (1920–2012) in this concise but comprehensive biography. Culling from 10 days of interviews with the pianist in 2003, Clark analyses Brubeck’s music, citing the pianist’s “absorption in composition, the various ways in which composed music intersected with his unassailable belief in the urgency of improvisation, formed his approach to the piano—which became a laboratory in sound for this composer who improvised and improviser who composed.” The author further explores Brubeck’s 1959 odd meter masterpiece in 5/4 time, “Take Five”; the equally complex “Blue Rondo la Turk” and “It’s a Raggedy Waltz”; and his innovative concept albums, including Time Out and Jazz Impressions of Eurasia. Clark details fascinating points from Brubeck’s life—including studying classical music with Darius Milhaud at Mills College, his time in the army, his refusal to play in the segregated South because his black bassist was not allowed to be on the same stage, and performing with his sons later in life. Clark hits the right notes for die-hard Brubeck disciples and jazz neophytes alike.

January 1, 2020
The iconic jazz musician receives an adoring biography as unconventional and compelling as its subject. As music journalist Clark notes, Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), "thoughtful and sensitive as he was, had been changed as a musician and as a man by the troubled times through which he lived and during which he produced...optimistic, life-enhancing art." The author eschews a standard, chronological narrative in favor of a forensic analysis of classic Brubeck cuts like "Take Five," "Blue Rondo á la Turk," "Unsquare Dance," and many more. Just as many jazz greats used modest chord progressions to underpin their masterpieces, Clark employs a throughline of his own involving the 10 days he spent interviewing Brubeck on tour in the spring of 2003 to achieve something beyond the run-of-the-mill biography. The author is "riffing" like his musical idols when he writes about Brubeck's penchant for "polytonality" and "polyrhythms." A typical example of his exhaustive musing: "Laying arpeggios on thick, Brubeck recapped his theme as Benjamin's 'arco' bass seesawed through the texture, spiraling around the rich chromaticism with an intense throbbing tone that projected like a whole section of cellos." However fascinating his subject's artistry may be, delving so deeply into the DNA of Brubeck's decadeslong musical catalog does have the potential to alienate more casual music fans. Thankfully, Clark also hits all the right biographical notes along the way, including Brubeck's time in the Army; his early days studying at Mills College in Oakland under the tutelage of Darius Milhaud; his efforts to steer clear of mobster Morris Levy, who was heavily involved in the 1950s jazz scene; his defiance of Jim Crow segregation in the South; and his deft leading of his Dave Brubeck Quartet to superstardom. The mix of musicology and biography allows Clark to paint an imitate portrait of Brubeck as a man of great personal and artistic integrity, and that may not have been possible if the author had simply stuck to a traditional score. A nontraditional biography that sings despite its studious blocks of theory-heavy dissection.

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February 1, 2020

In 2003, music journalist and composer Clark followed the Dave Brubeck Quartet for 10 days on a tour through Britain. More than 15 years later, Clark relies on his interviews with Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) and his bandmates, as well as meticulous research, to pen a comprehensive, admiring biography of the jazz piano great, starting with Brubeck's 1953 concert tour with headliner Charlie Parker. The author turns technical in places, discussing how Brubeck balanced two goals--composition and improvisation--and how he relied on counterpoint and polytonality, which he learned from classical composer Darius Milhaud. Clark also covers Brubeck's classically oriented octet and the formation of his trio and then quartet with saxophonist Paul Desmond in the early 1950s. Brubeck enjoyed mega-success with the innovative rhythms of Time Out and "Take Five," embarked on a State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia in 1958, and took a courageous stand against racial discrimination during the civil rights era. The author concludes by examining the pianist's more musically eclectic later years. VERDICT Though needlessly skipping around the Brubeck chronology, Clark offers a rock-solid biography of a musical legend that will appeal to jazz fans and expands on works such as Fred M. Hall's It's About Time.--David P. Szatmary, formerly with Univ. of Washington, Seattle

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