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Dave Brubeck, 1920-, Pianist and Composer
A Biography and Bibliography
by Tim Sheehan

Brubeck Home | Biography | Major Works | Items about Brubeck

Items about Brubeck

Interviews - Selected Reviews - Secondary Sources - Websites

Interviews (print, electronic, video)

Blumenthal, Bob. “Sustain (Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck)(Interview)” Down Beat 64(5) (May 1997): 18(7 pages).
Interview with Brubeck and Oscar Peterson, both jazz pianists leading popular quartets in the 50’s and 60’s.

Clark, Philip. “Beyond ‘Take Five’ ” Choir & Organ 13(6) (Nov/Dec 2005): 25-27.
This article provides a very brief overview of Brubeck’s choral compositions. Included in the article are comments by Brubeck regarding his compositions.

Dave Brubeck [interview in PDF format]. Washington DC: Public Broadcasting Service, 2000?.
Interview with Dave Brubeck given as a supplement to Ken Burn’s Jazz. Interview covers Brubeck’s jazz career and his opinions regarding various jazz artists and influences.

“Dave Brubeck on Music Education and Composing.” Teaching Music 8, part 4 (2001): 48-53.
Interview covers his career, his recent work with music students, and his view of music as a means to world peace.

Lyons, Len. The Great Jazz Pianists. Speaking of Their Lives and Music. New York: Quill, 1983.
Contains an interview with Brubeck in early 1980’s. Brubeck discusses his family life, Darius Milhaud, his jazz career, and his religious compositions. Lyon’s first chapter “A Survey of the Jazz Pianists and Their Tradition” links all jazz pianists into a history of jazz. Index useful to locate other pianists’ view of Brubeck.

“The Man on Cloud No. 7,” Time 64(19) (8 November 1954): 69-76.
Cover story about Dave Brubeck and his influence on jazz during this period. Article and cover may be viewed in Time Archive.

Miller, Malcolm. “Dave Brubeck.” Jazz Journal International 45(8) (August 1992): 6-.
Interview with Brubeck regarding his career and his early 1990’s performances with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Mattingly, Terry. “Brubeck’s Mass and all that Jazz.” National Catholic Reporter 21 (18 Jan. 1985): 9 (2 pages).
Interview with Brubeck regarding his religious compositions.

National Public Radio. “Profile: Dave Brubeck’s Jazz Composition ‘Take Five’” Weekend Edition Sunday 19 November 2000.
Interview with Brubeck on recording “Take Five.”

Smith, Hedrick. Rediscovering Dave Brubeck. 57 min. Produced by Cliff Hackel. South Carolina Public Television. VHS. 2001.
Documentary on Dave Brubeck with interviews.

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Selected Reviews

Anonymous. “Columbia Legacy: This Is Jazz #39. Dave Brubeck Plays Standards [review].” Piano & Keyboard, no. 194 (Sept/Oct 1998): 67.

Bouchard, Fred. “Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond: Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond 1975: The Duets [review].” Down Beat 69(9) (Sept. 2002): 62 (2 pages).

Cerulli, Dom. “Classic Reviews - Dave Brubeck – Jazz Goes to Junior College.” Down Beat 61(7) (July 1994): 86.
Reprint of a 14 November 1957 review of the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Jazz Goes to Junior College.

Enright, Ed. “Pianist Dave Brubeck keys double CD with authority [review].” Informationweek, no. 826 (26 Feb. 2001): 113.
Review of “Double Live From the USA & UK.”

Ephland, John. “Dave Brubeck: One Alone / Dave Brubeck Quartet: Jazz Impressions Of Japan [double review].” Down Beat 68(4) (April 2001): 66.

Greenfield (first name not provided). “Guide to Records [review].” American Record Guide 60(1) (Jan/Feb 97): 85.
Review of To Hope! A Celebration.

Holden, Stephen. “Bittersweet and Serious Blend Without Discord.” New York Times 30 June 2003, Monday, Late Edition – Final. sec. E; Page 5; col. 5.
Review of Brubeck’s performance at the Carnegie Hall JVC Jazz Festival.

Lark, Bob. “Blue Rondo Ala Turk [review].” The Instrumentalist 53(5) (Dec. 1998): 62 (2 pages).

McDonough, John. “(Oscar Peterson et al) The Very Tall Band Live at the Blue Note / (Dave Brubeck Quartet) The 40th Anniversary Tour of the U.K. [review].” Down Beat 66(9) (Sept. 1999): 68 (3 pages).

McDonough, John. “Park Avenue South.” Down Beat 70(6) (Jun 2003): 65.
Review of Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Park Avenue South.”

Nelson, Jim. “Brandenburg Gate: Revisited / Brubeck Plays Brubeck / Bravo! Brubeck! / Brubeck & Rushing [reviews of 4 Brubeck recordings].” GQ: Gentlemen’s Quarterly 69(1) (January 1999): 36.

Novak, Ralph. “The Crossing [review].” People Weekly 56(21) (19 November 2001): 50.

Ratliff, Ben. “For Brubeckians, Classical Brubeck [Review].” New York Times 23 June 1999, E.5.
Review of the Dave Brubeck Quartet performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall 20 June 1999, part of the JVC Jazz Festival.

Rideout, Ernie. “Dave Brubeck: One Alone [review].” Keyboard 26(11) (Nov. 2000): 12.

Smith, Will. “The Crossing [review].” Down Beat 69(2) (Feb. 2002): 54.

Smith, Ken. “Reviews: CDs.” Strad 108(1292) (Dec. 1997): 1392.
Review of Brubeck’s composition Chromatic Fantasy as performed by the Brodsky Quartet.

Smith, Will. “Dave Brubeck Quartet: So What’s New? [review].” Down Beat 65(8): 86.

Walls, Richard C. “Dave Brubeck Quartet at Carnegie Hall / Double Live: From the U.S.A & U.K. [double review].” Sound & Vision 66(4) (May 2001): 124.

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Secondary Sources

All Music Guide to Jazz: The Expert’s Guide to the Best Jazz Recordings. 3rd Edition. Edited by Michael Erlewine. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books, 1998.
Good source to view for it’s discography. Entry on Dave Brubeck contains a brief biography by Scott Yanow, followed by 6 pages of annotated discography. Discography arranged in chronological order from earliest to latest recordings. Annotations describe contents and significance of each recording. This discography contains more titles than the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD.

Anonymous. “Contemporary Composition Is Alive and Singing.” Teaching Music 7(5) (April 2000): 20.
Article on Brubeck sharing his compositions with the Soddy-Daisy High School of Chattanooga TN.

Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; and Priestly, Brian. Jazz: The Rough Guide. 2nd Edition. London: Rough Guides; New York: Penguin Books, 2000.
Brief one column entry on Brubeck. Also contains annotations for Jazz at Oberlin and Take Five.

Cook, Richard & Morton, Brian. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. 5th Edition. London: Penguin Books; New York: Penguin Putnam, 2000.
Biographical information provided is brief and also contains an error on Brubeck’s birthplace. Despite this flaw, this sour is the discography of Brubeck’s works on CD. Discography lists jazz works available on CD. Not all recordings are annotated but the those annotated can be about five paragraphs in length containing contents and significance of CD. See also All Music Guide to Jazz for a more complete discography.

Crist, Stephen A. “The role and meaning of the Bach chorale in the music of Dave Brubeck.” Bach Perspectives 5 (2003): 179-215.

Feather, Leonard G & Gitler, Ira . The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Brief, compact entry on Dave Brubeck’s career. Also contains entries for Chris, Danny, Darius, and Matthew Brubeck, all of whom are Dave Brubeck’s sons. This resource also contains an entry for Howard Brubeck, older brother of Dave Brubeck.

Garcia, Antonio J. “Dave Brubeck: His music keeps us here.” Jazz Education Journal 34(3) (Nov 2001): 38-45.

Gioia, Ted. West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California 1945-1960. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Coverage of the “West Coast Jazz” fad, with significance coverage and analysis of Dave Brubeck’s jazz career.

Hall, Fred M. It’s About Time: The Dave Brubeck Story. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1996.
Biography on Brubeck’s career and personal life. Based on interviews author had with Brubeck, Brubeck’s family, and Brubeck’s associates. Select Discography at end, along with a general index and an index of “Works Mentioned” in text. Good source for in-depth biographical information.

Koransky, Jason. “Brubeck Offers Insight to Students.” Down Beat. 70(3) (March 2003): 90.
Article about the first students of The Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific. Article focuses on Brubeck’s advice of translating life experiences into their music.

Jazz: Episode eight--Risk. Produced by Ken Burns. [Washington DC]: PBS Home Video(DVD), 2000.
Coverage of jazz 1945-1955 with focus on diverse styles of cool and hot, East and West, and traditional and modern. Coverage includes Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Take Five.

Jazz: Episode seven--Dedicated to chaos. Produced by Ken Burns. [Washington DC]: PBS Home Video(DVD), 2000.
Focuses on World War II and development of bebop style. Included is Brubeck’s concerts given overseas during the War.

Lord, Tom. The Jazz Discography. West Vancouver, B.C., Canada: Lord Music Reference ; Redwood, N.Y., U.S.A. : Cadence Jazz Books, 1992.
Brubeck entry contains 17 pages of discography arranged in chronological order of recording from 1948 to 1991. Lists album title (if any), musicians in recording session, place of recording, date of recording, recording label, and tracks recording. Not annotated.

Mach, Elyse. “With Dave Brubeck the Music Never Stops.” The Instrumentalist 55(12) (July 2001): 30-36.
An interview with Dave Brubeck covering his career, focusing on his study of Bach and Brubeck’s vision problems.

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. 2nd Edition. Edited by Barry Kernfeld. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries Inc., 2001.
Contains a brief 2 page entry written by Richard Wang on Dave Brubeck, focusing more on the Dave Brubeck Quartet and Brubeck’s jazz career. Also contains Selected Recordings, Selected Films and Videos, Transcriptions, and Bibliography.

Ponick, F.S. “Dave Brubeck on music education and composing.” Teaching Music 8(4) (Feb 2001): 48-52.
Interview with Brubeck regarding his career and his work with music students.

Salmon, John. “A Bold New Stride.” Piano & Keyboard no. 201 (Nov/Dec 1999): 48.
Analysis of jazz pianist styles, including Brubeck. Sidebar contains “Tatum was Tops” by Brubeck.

Salmon, John. “The Classical Side of Dave Brubeck.” American Music Teacher 50(4) (Feb-March 2001): 23(6).
Article focuses on Brubeck’s classical compositions, as well as a summary of his jazz successes. Salmon also examines teaching Brubeck’s pieces to music students.

Storb, Ilse & Fischer, Klaus-Gotthard. Dave Brubeck, Improvisations and Compositions: The Idea of Cultural Exchange: with Discography. Translated by Bert Thompson. New York: P. Lang, 1994.
English translation of 1991 German text. Contains biography of Brubeck. Discography regarded as the best available. Discography lists recording dates, releases, reissues, personnel, labels, recording sites, and cross-reference.

Sullivan, Gordon R. “Leadership, Versatility, and all that Jazz.” Military Review 77(1), Jan/Feb 1997; 52 (6 pages).
Comparison of the leadership abilities of General Mathew B Ridgeway and Dave Brubeck.

Young, Harmon Griffith, III. The Sacred Choral Music of Dave Brubeck: A Historical, Analytical, and Critical Examination. PhD diss., University of Florida, 1995.
Abstract in Dissertation Abstracts International 56, no. 11A, (1995): 4201.
Analysis of Brubeck’s sacred choral compositions between 1967-1992.

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Selected Websites

The Brubeck Collection. Holt-Atherton Special Collections. University of the Pacific. Stockton CA.
This site contains finding aids for the Brubeck Collection. It also contains the Brubeck Oral History Project, the Brubeck Photo Gallery, and The Gates of Justice online exhibit.

Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific. University of the Pacific. Stockton CA.
Website for the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific. Contains short bio of Brubeck and updated information regarding the Institute.

Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns – Biographies – Dave Brubeck.
Washington: DC: Public Broadcasting System. 200-?.
Website contains brief biography of Dave Brubeck. The site contains an audio sample of “Take Five,” an audio clip of Tony Sarabia’s NPR’s story on “Take Five,” and an audio feature by Nancy Wilson on Dave Brubeck.

Rediscovering Dave Brubeck.
Washington: DC: Public Broadcasting System. 2001.
The web companion for the PBS documentary Rediscovering Dave Brubeck with Hedrick Smith. This site contains background information, interviews, and a few tunes to download.

©2008 Tim Sheehan tim@historynut.info

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This page last updated 28 June 2008