Take Five, no, Make it Six Feet
(Kudos to Mark)
Or
Or
Or
Or
Or
Dave Brubeck, who helped make jazz palatable to white folk in the 1950s and 1960s, has died on his way to his cardiologist a day shy of his 92nd birthday. The pianist and composer is probably best known for Time Out, the first jazz album to sell a million copies, and Take Five that album’s centerpiece. Although his music was denounced by critics as being schematic, bombastic and stolid, and decidedly heroin-free, his odd and often idiosyncratic experimentations gave his arrangements an originality that struck a chord with listeners, especially his overhauls of well-known songs like You Go to My Head, All the Things You Are and Pennies From Heaven. His music may have literally been life-saving – serving in the US Army during World War II, his commanding officer heard him playing with a Red Cross traveling band and decided anyone who could play music that well couldn’t possibly handle a rifle. Brubeck courted disdain from jazz aficionados by recording albums instead of only performing in smoky clubs before a dozen people, and by doing things like recording songs from Disney movies on 1957’s Dave Digs Disney. A trip for the Quartet to the Middle East and India, and exposure to musical languages that didn’t stick to 4/4 time led to Time Out, in 1959, which put Brubeck and his Quartet on the pop charts and secured their place in music history.
Or
The Man on Cloud No. 7
(Props for Don)Or
Time Out
(Additional accolades for Don)Or
Taking Five Forever
(Credit to Chris N)Or
Waltzing to the Grave in 5/4
(More merit for Chris N)Or
Take 91
(Can I get a whoop-whoop for Monty?)Dave Brubeck, who helped make jazz palatable to white folk in the 1950s and 1960s, has died on his way to his cardiologist a day shy of his 92nd birthday. The pianist and composer is probably best known for Time Out, the first jazz album to sell a million copies, and Take Five that album’s centerpiece. Although his music was denounced by critics as being schematic, bombastic and stolid, and decidedly heroin-free, his odd and often idiosyncratic experimentations gave his arrangements an originality that struck a chord with listeners, especially his overhauls of well-known songs like You Go to My Head, All the Things You Are and Pennies From Heaven. His music may have literally been life-saving – serving in the US Army during World War II, his commanding officer heard him playing with a Red Cross traveling band and decided anyone who could play music that well couldn’t possibly handle a rifle. Brubeck courted disdain from jazz aficionados by recording albums instead of only performing in smoky clubs before a dozen people, and by doing things like recording songs from Disney movies on 1957’s Dave Digs Disney. A trip for the Quartet to the Middle East and India, and exposure to musical languages that didn’t stick to 4/4 time led to Time Out, in 1959, which put Brubeck and his Quartet on the pop charts and secured their place in music history.
posted by The Grim Reaper at 5:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home