Aug 18, 2020 03:17 AM
Review of "Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time" ... by Philip Clark
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/strange-times/
INTRO (Russell Davies): Dave Brubeck, in his lifetime, was the litmus paper of jazz, and most listeners turned red at the sight of him – either from rage at what they called his swingless, thumping pianistics, or out of embarrassment at having to admit that they rather liked what he did. Before Miles Davis went electric and Ornette Coleman bloomed, Brubeck was the surest name to start an argument. A cynical section of the jazz audience perceived his experimental nature as a search for a catchy idiom that might eventually bring him the triumph of a hit. And of course, this line of argument claimed a win when “Take Five” propelled the world onto the dance floor in 5/4 time.
Those poisonous atmospheres have largely dissipated now, so Philip Clark’s biography comes as a well-timed burst of clarity, except perhaps in the matter of form. Having learnt from Brubeck the art of obliging his public to take him on his own terms rather than see their usual expectations fulfilled, Clark has produced a book so oddly constructed that we arrive at the statement “David Warren Brubeck was born on December 6th 1920, in the small town of Concord, California” on page 302. There may be a smidgeon of bravado in that placement, but the author can hardly be blamed for prioritizing the ten days he spent in and around the Brubeck band bus on its tour of Britain in 2003, collecting the leader’s testimony, which was both frank and copious. I interviewed Brubeck a couple of times, once at some length, and I can’t remember a more obliging conversationalist, with one’s every suggestion properly weighed and no subject off limits. So Clark’s tapes succeed in setting all kinds of themes in motion, and taking us into his hero’s long and controversial career.
At the same time, some important information is too long postponed. Brubeck’s personality, both stubborn and accommodating, seems hard to decode until we belatedly meet his mother, Elizabeth Ivey “Bessie” Brubeck... (MORE - details)
Take Five
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tT9Eh8wNMkw
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/strange-times/
INTRO (Russell Davies): Dave Brubeck, in his lifetime, was the litmus paper of jazz, and most listeners turned red at the sight of him – either from rage at what they called his swingless, thumping pianistics, or out of embarrassment at having to admit that they rather liked what he did. Before Miles Davis went electric and Ornette Coleman bloomed, Brubeck was the surest name to start an argument. A cynical section of the jazz audience perceived his experimental nature as a search for a catchy idiom that might eventually bring him the triumph of a hit. And of course, this line of argument claimed a win when “Take Five” propelled the world onto the dance floor in 5/4 time.
Those poisonous atmospheres have largely dissipated now, so Philip Clark’s biography comes as a well-timed burst of clarity, except perhaps in the matter of form. Having learnt from Brubeck the art of obliging his public to take him on his own terms rather than see their usual expectations fulfilled, Clark has produced a book so oddly constructed that we arrive at the statement “David Warren Brubeck was born on December 6th 1920, in the small town of Concord, California” on page 302. There may be a smidgeon of bravado in that placement, but the author can hardly be blamed for prioritizing the ten days he spent in and around the Brubeck band bus on its tour of Britain in 2003, collecting the leader’s testimony, which was both frank and copious. I interviewed Brubeck a couple of times, once at some length, and I can’t remember a more obliging conversationalist, with one’s every suggestion properly weighed and no subject off limits. So Clark’s tapes succeed in setting all kinds of themes in motion, and taking us into his hero’s long and controversial career.
At the same time, some important information is too long postponed. Brubeck’s personality, both stubborn and accommodating, seems hard to decode until we belatedly meet his mother, Elizabeth Ivey “Bessie” Brubeck... (MORE - details)
Take Five