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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

#11

Post by tsm »

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…

There's two factors here. One is that bebop--the previous ruling jazz style--faded considerably during WWII, and was also dominated by black culture. Brubeck brought jazz back into style, and also--as you noted--made it less of a racial issue. The previous white jazz was big band swing, which had its heyday in the '20s and was long gone by Brubeck's day.

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

#13

Post by andrewcooke »

tsm wrote: post #11
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…

There's two factors here. One is that bebop--the previous ruling jazz style--faded considerably during WWII, and was also dominated by black culture. Brubeck brought jazz back into style, and also--as you noted--made it less of a racial issue. The previous white jazz was big band swing, which had its heyday in the '20s and was long gone by Brubeck's day.

thanks. i should read some history. i have very little idea of the social context.

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

#14

Post by tjr »

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…

In addition to what has already been commented, his music also reached the more classically-oriented people who found jazz to be too esoteric and incomprehensible.

Basically, he created jazz music that a wide spectrum of people were able to appreciate and enjoy, while at the same time advancing the state of the art.

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

#15

Post by tjr »

antr wrote: post #6
ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

I learned of Dave's music when I tracked down the theme song used in "The Secret Life of Machines" (which was "Take Five"). I bought his album "Time out" that had that song on it and really enjoyed it. Then bought the Christmas Album. Sad to hear he has died, but glad he chose to share his music with us.

the amazing thing about his music is that it still sounds extremely contemporary, take five is the perfect example - david holmes does a better job of sounding "old"

Just to give credit properly (as I'm sure Brubeck himself would have), it was saxophonist Paul Desmond who wrote "Take Five".

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

#16

Post by tonecluster »

antoni wrote: post #9

"Take five" was actually a great jazz theme that I always compare to great programming, saying: "You want to know how the great code looks like? Listen to this." Rest in peace, Mr Brubeck.

Paul Desmond wrote 'Take Five'. For an example of Brubeck's masterful "great code", check out "Blue Rondo a la Turk". Genius.

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

#19

Post by TylerE »

tsm wrote: post #11
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…

There's two factors here. One is that bebop--the previous ruling jazz style--faded considerably during WWII, and was also dominated by black culture. Brubeck brought jazz back into style, and also--as you noted--made it less of a racial issue. The previous white jazz was big band swing, which had its heyday in the '20s and was long gone by Brubeck's day.

You're a bit off in your chronology. Swing was big up through the late 40s - Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington dominated the charts.

Bebop didn't really take over until the post war years.

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