Dave Brubeck celebrated his 91st birthday late last year. Understandably, he doesn’t tour much these days, although age took quite a while to slow him down. He still plays sparingly, and as late as 2004, his solo piano album of wartime remembrances showed that his music still had power and pathos.
He doesn’t need to tour to keep the Brubeck name in the public ear, anyway. That’s what sons are for. (In fact, Dave and all four of his musician sons appeared together this past summer at Ravinia – for Father’s Day, naturally.)
The Brubeck Brothers Quartet hits town Saturday night for a 7 PM show at the Old Town School of Folk Music (4544 N. Lincoln), co-led by Dave Brubeck’s two middle boys: Chris, a rock-solid bass guitarist and roisterous trombonist, and Danny, a propulsive colorist on drums. Rounding out the quartet are two lesser-known but equally impressive players, pianist Mike Lamb and guitarist Mike DeMicco.
As directed by Chris Brubeck – whose own career has steered steadily toward classical composition – they’ve crafted a tight, vibrant, well-balanced music, steeped in jazz heritage but also congnizant of 70s fusion and its offshoots. Even without the Brubeck name to clear the path, it’s a band worth hearing, with a crackerjack rhythmic spine to support polished solos on well-crafted compositions.
In Chicago they’ll present material from their first two discs, Chris told me last week, and also preview some of the tunes from a new CD due this spring. Those earlier albums, Intuition and Classified, focused on original compositions; the new one hearkens back to the glorious songbook of Dear Old Dad.
“The new CD, which we are about to start mixing, has a mixture of originals and some salutes to Dave,” Chris said, “including spiffy rearrangements of ‘The Duke,’ ‘Kathy's Waltz,’ ‘Jazzanians,’ and ‘Take Five.’” (As you may know from reading these columns, that last tune was not written by Brubeck, although it resulted in his greatest commercial success – a recording instantly recognizable the world over.)
“There are also originals by Chuck, Mike, Dan and me. All of this is likely to come flying off the stage, depending on the acoustics of the room, the people and the vibes. You know how it is on a gig: everything has an influence on everything,” added Chris, who has a separate CD due shortly from the bluesy trio he calls Triple Play.
The Brubeck Brothers Quartet grew out of a mid-70s project that offered even as much musical punch as it did charm. In that band, called Two Generations of Brubeck, Daddy Dave toured and recorded with Chris, Danny, and their older brother, pianist Darius, who stuck mainly to electric keyboards. (Well, it was the 70s; in fact, even Dave dabbled on electric piano for that group’s two discs, linked here and here.)
But the band also included the powerhouse tenor saxist Jerry Bergonzi, who since then has built a career as a revered teacher and vividly intense post-bop player; and guest contributions from the avant-garde clarinetist Perry Robinson and from Peter “Madcat” Ruth on harmonica.
The music from this eclectic lineup was a sort of patchwork quilt, sewing together the disparate styles and backgrounds of its members. It had a similarly homespun power, rooted in tradition, less slick than its fusion contemporaries, And in translating the patriarch’s musical legacy to a contemporary setting, they came a lot closer than anyone had a right to expect.
Dave Brubeck hasn't usually received his due from contemporary writers and jazz historians, who too often have dismissed his enormous popular success as a sign of second-rate artistry. As Cee Lo Green would say, “Forget that.”
Brubeck’s piano style lacked fine gradations of subtlety, but more than made up for that with its clear, grandly architectural solos. And his occasionally derided sense of swing was, it turns out, a unique jazz bridge between the African-American rhythmic tradition and a broader musical heritage reflecting classical, pop, and even country music.
Even without a much historic revision of his piano praxis, Brubeck’s compositions – from such iconic pieces as “Blue Rondo A La Turk” and “Summer Song” to his large-scale works for orchestra and chorus – would stand on their own. They mark his place – along with Benny Goodman, Art Tatum, Leonard Bernstein, Wynton Marsalis and a handful of others – as 20th-century icons equally conversant with jazz and classical music.
Brubeck studied with the classicist Darius Milhaud and adored Duke Ellington; that pretty much sums it up, I think. His sons grew up with all of this and more, including a generationally appropriate love affair with rock-and-roll; and of course, they had their dad to point the way.
At this point, I’d say the family name is in awfully good hands.
ALSO THIS WEEKEND: Chicago reedman Eric Schneider – whose high-flying alto tends to obscure his equal excellence on the tenor and clarinet – continues his weekend stint at the Jazz Showcase (806 S. Plymouth), with sets at 8 and 10, tonight through Sunday. The whole weekend features Willie Pickens on piano; assuming you’ve shoveled out by Saturday night, you can hear Rob Amster on bass and Bob Rummage on drums. And if you don’t venture from the house till Sunday, you still get to hear Dennis Carroll on bass and George Fludas on drums.
Can’t wait to hear Carroll and Fludas? They’ll spend Friday and Saturday at the Green Mill (Lawrence & Broadway) as part of the quartet led by Pat Mallinger and starring pianist Bill Carrothers. They’re celebrating the release of Home On Richmond (PMJ Jazz), which I wrote about last week, and you should, pardon the expression, bust your ass to hear them.
And on Monday night, tenor man Mark Colby celebrates a recent disc of his own – Yesterday’s Gardenias – with a tribute to his idol Stan Getz in advance of what would have been his 85th birthday. Colby has few peers when it comes to channeling Getz’s sound and style, but don’t go for that alone; he’s a wonderful, underutilized Chicago resource regardless of who he might be honoring. The ace pianist Jeremy Kahn leads the sterling rhythm section, with sets at 8 and 10.
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