Jazz legend Dave Brubeck died Tuesday at age 91, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. It was the end of one of the most accomplished lives in jazz history.
Dave Brubeck was born on December 6, 1920. He was a jazz pianist and composer, one of the most significant artists of the genre. His recording with his quartet in 1959, Time Out, remains one of most important and top selling jazz albums in history; containing the huge mainstream hit "Time Out" as well as "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and "Strange Meadow Lark". Time Out is a must have for any jazz collection, featuring significant contributions by Brubeck's longtime musical colleague, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. Alongside the Miles Davis recording Kind of Blue, also recorded in 1959, Time Out is a landmark jazz release.
Dave Brubeck was also a composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television. Five of Brubeck's children have been professional musicians with whom he performed extensively. Dave Brubeck's music has had a lasting impact on generations of musicians and jazz fans worldwide. This writer remembers the music of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and the recording Jazz Impressions of Eurasia as being some of the first heard in childhood, and that music has remained a source of great joy for this jazz fan for decades. Dave Brubeck will be deeply missed.
More on the passing of Dave Brubeck can be found at http://www.npr.org/artists/15156676/dave-brubeck
