Who?: Dave Brubeck (David Warren Brubeck)

When did he live?: He was born December 6, 1920.

What did he do?: He is an American jazz pianist and composer.        

Where is he from/where did he live?: Brubeck was born in Concord, California and grew up in Ione.  He is of English (maternal) and Swiss (paternal) ancestry.  In 1951, Brubeck took up a long residency in San Francisco to play at the Black Hawk Nightclub with The Dave Brubeck Quartet.  Brubeck is still alive and still performing all over the United States.

Why is he remembered?: Dave Brubeck has written a number of jazz standards, including “In Your Own Sweet Way” and “The Duke”.  His style extends from refined to overbearing, reflecting a mix of his classical training from his mother and his own improvisational skills.  His music is recognized for utilizing unusual time signatures and overlapping, contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.  The Dave Brubeck Quartet was founded in 1951, including Brubeck’s long-time musical partner, Paul Desmond, who wrote “Take Five”.  Desmond wrote the piece in 5/4 time and it became the quartets most remembered piece.  Brubeck experimented with time signatures throughout his career, recording “Pick Up Sticks” in 6/4, “Unsquare Dance” in 7/4, and “Blue Rondo a la Turk” in 9/8.  He is also a respected composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television such as Mr. Broadway and the animated mini-series This is America, Charlie Brown.

Honors and Awards?: In 1996, Brubeck received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2006 he was awarded the University of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious award given to American Catholics.  In 2000, Brubeck and his wife founded the Brubeck Institute at their alma mater, the University of Pacific and one of the main streets of the school resides in his honor, Dave Brubeck Way.  On April 8, 2008, United States Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, presented Brubeck with a “Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy” and he was announced Kennedy Center Honoree in 2009 by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  On May 28, 2008 Brubeck was inducted into the California Hall of Fame and on May 16, 2010 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from The George Washington University and a Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music at the Montreal Jazz Festival.  On July 5, 2010 he was awarded the Miles-Davis Award at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and Brubeck became a supporter of the Jazz Foundation of America after Hurricane Katrina.  In 2010, Bruce Ricker and Clint Eastwood produced a documentary about Brubeck, Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way for Turner Classic Movies to commemorate his 90^th birthday in December 2010.