Dave takes five

If Dave Brubeck had been killed in the horrendous accident that reworked his face more than sixty years ago, we never would have heard "Strange Meadowlark," "In Your Own Sweet Way," "Blue Rondo a la Turk," or any of a dozen other jazz classics. But, happily, Dave survived that accident, and survived until the day before his ninety-second birthday, when he made a graceful departure this week in Hartford, Connecticut.

Brubeck was one of the most popular musicians of the second half of the twentieth century, and the Brubeck Quartet album "Time Out" was one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, out or in. In 1954, Brubeck appeared on the cover of Time magazine, the sort of mainstream attention that offended jazz cultists. There were criticisms--his music was too difficult, too cerebral, it didn't swing. But, as Oscar Peterson said, the music lasts, the critics don't.

The Brubeck Quartet had its first great success on college campuses. Its sound was defined by the alto saxophone of Paul Desmond, who said he wanted his music to have the character of a dry martini. The clever, pencil-thin Desmond, composer of "Take Five," the quartet's most recognized piece, had planned to write a memoir titled "How Many Are There of You in the Quartet?" In that quartet, the bassist was Eugene Wright, and the drummer, the most praised by critics, was the near blind Joe Morello.

One of Dave Brubeck's most performed pieces is known as "The Duke," but its full title is "From Darius to the Duke," reflecting Brubeck's stylistic progress from the classical mentoring of Darius Milhaud at Mills College to the jazz world of Duke Ellington--a progress Milhaud encouraged.

Dave Brubeck's music--his own recordings, and his compositions played by others--will go on.  As Oscar said, the music lasts.