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Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

nytimes.com

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Re: Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

#41

Post by mturmon »

relaxatorium wrote: post #10
andrewcooke wrote: post #5

"put jazz back in vogue"? i've searched the article and still can't work out what this is referring to. is he particularly prized in the usa? was he some kind of tv personality? (i listen to a fair bit of jazz; respect to the guy - he made one of the famous jazz records - but if he was the first jazz musician on time's cover that, in honesty, says a lot more about time, american culture, and his skin colour (no criti…

It's right in the third paragraph: "In a long and successful career, Mr. Brubeck helped repopularize jazz at a time when younger listeners had been trained to the sonic dimensions of the three-minute pop single. His quartet’s 1959 recording of “Take Five” was the first jazz single to sell a million copies." He got a jazz record up the pop charts at a time when that was not really something that was happening.

Yep, I think Brubeck had a place as a cultural signifier in that time. I think of this little verse from Donald Fagen's (voice of Steely Dan) reminiscence of his days growing up in the late 50s:

   Have you got a steady boyfriend
   'Cause honey I've been watching you
   I hear you're mad about Brubeck
   I like your eyes, I like him too
   He's an artist, a pioneer
   We've got to have some music on the new frontier.

Re: Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

#42

Post by TheAmazingIdiot »

liber8 wrote: post #36
spitx wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As of this writing, kylebgorman's post is grayed out. That shows a substantial number of votes have expressed disapproval of the post. Does his insinuation really deserve the treatment? Couldn't the disapproving parties have elaborated on their castigation? If the disagreement is about the facts, then why not state so and corroborate with those facts? Cavalier down-voting is the cheapest form of expression and belong…

I didn't downvote him, but even if Brubeck's career was benefited "MASSIVELY from being white", this has absolutely nothing to do with whether he was a good human being or took a stand against racism.

Sometimes being a privileged position allows one to do tremendous things. As Brubeck did countless times.

Re: Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

#43

Post by csallen »

liber8 wrote: post #36
spitx wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As of this writing, kylebgorman's post is grayed out. That shows a substantial number of votes have expressed disapproval of the post. Does his insinuation really deserve the treatment? Couldn't the disapproving parties have elaborated on their castigation? If the disagreement is about the facts, then why not state so and corroborate with those facts? Cavalier down-voting is the cheapest form of expression and belong…

I didn't downvote him, but even if Brubeck's career was benefited "MASSIVELY from being white", this has absolutely nothing to do with whether he was a good human being or took a stand against racism.

You missed the last part of his point, which was that Brubeck was ashamed of that fact, implying that he wished for a world with more racial equality, and thus bolstering the case that he was a good human being.

Re: Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

#44

Post by GaryGapinski »

blankenship wrote: post #21

I’m 33. I "discovered" Brubeck four or five years ago, primarily wearing out Jazz Impressions of New York while looking to detox a bit from a year of Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis. In April 2011 my wife and I took a train from South Carolina to Washington D.C. to catch one of Dave's four sold out shows at Blues Alley. I paid more money than I had ever paid to see a concert, knowing this would likely be my only chance…

Glad to hear it. Discovery is always a lot of fun, regardless of latency.

Don't stop there. There were/are many good musicians performing excellent work from the 1950s and 60s on. Please keep looking.

I'll mention just a few I consider deserving of attention (and this is by no means comprehensive): Yusef Lateef, John Coltrane, Eddie Palmieri, Sun Ra, Oliver Nelson, John Hicks, Joe Henderson, Duke Pearson, Cal Tjader, Cannonball Adderley, …, MJQ, …).

If you would like to hear an(other) excellent tune in 5/4 besides /Take Five/ circa nine years later, check out Yusef Lateef's rendition of /Get Over, Get Off and Get On/ on the album "The Blue Yusef Lateef".

There are wonderful contemporary musicians, long-standing and novel, worth seeing at the most intimate of venues, the nightclub, as you have found.

My first nightclub experience, long ago, was Cannonball Adderley at the London House in Chicago, circa 1968, and I've enjoyed such a venue ever since. Nothing is better.

Re: Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

#46

Post by eugenejen »

AlexMuir wrote: post #35
quasistar wrote: post #34

That the Brubeck obit is a Top 10 HN story puts a smile on my face ;) If you're in a jazzy mood tonite, I can strongly recommend the recent Shinichiro Watanbe anime "Kids on the Slope" (坂道のアポロン Sakamichi no Apollon). http://www.crunchyroll.com/kids-on-the-slope

Completely OT but I just don't get anime at all. What am I missing? I got 10 minutes through Episode 1 at that link expecting something to happen - nothing did. I don't even really follow the storyline - a wimpy kid who can only stop himself throwing up by running onto the school roof. It's like cryptic crosswords, god and football matches - I must be missing a part of the brain.

The story is kind of slow and pretty set in Japan's social context. If you like to read novels by Haruki Murakami then you can get the story and its context easier.

Japan (or to some degrees, Korea, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong) has been influenced by Confucianism. How to deal with shame is a central part in social life. This includes dealing with feelings of alienation to one's social counterparts. And "being wimpy" is kind of shame experiences for teenagers in those countries.

You need to understand "shame" and "guilt" are two different concepts. "Guilt" is based on actions and morality. "Shame" is based on attributes that one possess. That's why you can see a lot of murders in East Asian's dramas having no feelings for guilt, but having feelings of shame.

Re: Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

#47

Post by dredmorbius »

wazoox wrote: post #7

Yesterday night I was at this tribute concert to Dave Brubeck... We thought he was still alive then. It was an electrifying concert. (trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heAAOVJTLwQ )

Given that he died this morning, he was alive last night.

Re: Dave Brubeck, Who Helped Put Jazz Back in Vogue, Dies at 91

#49

Post by chadzawistowski »

csallen wrote: post #43
liber8 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't downvote him, but even if Brubeck's career was benefited "MASSIVELY from being white", this has absolutely nothing to do with whether he was a good human being or took a stand against racism.

You missed the last part of his point, which was that Brubeck was ashamed of that fact, implying that he wished for a world with more racial equality, and thus bolstering the case that he was a good human being.

Ah, I had interpreted that to mean that he was ashamed of his ancestry.
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