"Essentially, I’m a composer who plays the piano or I’m a pianist who is a composer. My piano playing is shaped by the material and ideas I’m trying to express. I continue to play jazz, because that’s what I love most to do." This personal comment from Dave Brubeck succinctly reflects his innermost feelings toward his music, his career and his life’s work. Dave Brubeck’s enormous musical versatility is proven to be unique in both jazz and classical music. The distinctive hallmarks of his performance and compositional styles are the manifestation of extraordinary creative talents and abilities: eccentric rhythms, use of multiple rhythms (polyrhythms), extended harmonic language, simultaneous confluent tonal centers (polytonality), emphasis upon improvisation and counterpoint, and the fusion of jazz and classical music. Dave’s uncanny ability to assimilate music of diverse cultures allows him to be fluent in integrating various ethnic musical characteristics into his performance and creative composition.
Dave Brubeck was born in Concord, California on December 6, 1920, the third sons of Elizabeth Ivey Brubeck, a pianist and music teacher, and Howard "Pete" Brubeck, a cattle rancher and champion rodeo competitor. Throughout this childhood and teen years his father was grooming Dave to follow in his footsteps as a cattleman and rancher. Dave entered the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California (now the University of the Pacific) as a pre-med student with the ambition of becoming a veterinarian. However, early piano and music lessons from his mother, as well as encouragement from perceptive college professors, led Dave to change his major area of study to music in the Conservatory of Music. Upon graduation from the College of the Pacific in 1942, Dave entered the armed services where he served under General Patton in the European Theatre of Operations. Upon his discharge in 1946, Dave enrolled at Mills College to study composition with the renowned French composer, Darius Milhaud. It was during this period in his career (1947) that he and other Milhaud students formed the Dave Brubeck Octet. This led to his other groups such as the Dave Brubeck Trio and, in 1951, the incredibly popular Dave Brubeck Quartet. The Quartet thrust Dave Brubeck into international fame performing for audiences around the world and before numerous heads of state. During the 1950’s and 1960’s the Dave Brubeck Quartet pioneered the concept of performing concerts on hundreds of college and university campuses while continuing to perform in more traditional jazz venues of night clubs, festivals, and theatres such as the Apollo in Harlem and the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.
In 1967 Dave disbanded the "classic quartet" in order to devote more time and energy to his interest in composing more extended works and larger forms. Since then a wealth of original orchestral music, choral compositions, chamber music, ballet, and other musical genre have followed from Dave Brubeck’s pen. These works are frequently performed and most have been recorded. Needless to say however, Dave never strays away from the elements so characteristic in jazz composition and performance. Indeed, improvisation, essential to jazz, is often integrated into Dave’s larger works. And to be certain, from 1967 to today, he has continued to perform jazz throughout the world. He was recently honored with the title of Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1995, during a White House ceremony, the President of the United States awarded Dave the Presidential Medal of the Arts.
In addition to the well-deserved respect his music merits, Dave Brubeck is a magnificent human being. He is a devoted "family man" with his wife Iola, their daughter and five sons, and several grandchildren. Dave is a man of strong religious faith, a stalwart proponent for social justice, an international musical ambassador for his country and his art. It has been said that "he is both a visionary and an exponent of his own era."