Dave Brubeck Dies at 91 and I Recall the Interview That Almost Didn't Happen
Categories: all that jazz, r.i.p.
I asked him what he was listening to currently, and he said he was so busy that sitting down to listen to anything--the way one must listen to fully grasp it--was a "major chore." If he had his druthers, it would be Bach or Stravinsky or Bartok or Chopin or Liszt or Debussy or Ravel or Charles Ives; "you could almost list everything," Brubeck informed.
Did he consider those masters influences?
"Everything you hear is an influence," he answered. "Everybody who has gone before me has been influenced by what's been before them, so everybody's been influenced by what they've heard."
His thoughts that day were as logical, stripped-down and free-flowing as his music, which brought up the question of whether he ever gets sick of playing "Take Five," which arguably defines American jazz.
"Well, you don't play it the same," he said. "You play it differently every night. You play the theme the same way, which is one-tenth or one-twentieth of the song, depending on the night of the performance. The rest of the time you are playing improvisation, so you never get tired of that."
He added he never knew where that improvisation would take him, but we know: into ears all over the world.
Brubeck is survived by Iola, four sons (all musicians like their dad), a daughter, grandsons and a great granddaughter.
Follow us on Twitter @OCWeeklymusic Like us on Facebook at Heard Mentality.
Did he consider those masters influences?
"Everything you hear is an influence," he answered. "Everybody who has gone before me has been influenced by what's been before them, so everybody's been influenced by what they've heard."
His thoughts that day were as logical, stripped-down and free-flowing as his music, which brought up the question of whether he ever gets sick of playing "Take Five," which arguably defines American jazz.
"Well, you don't play it the same," he said. "You play it differently every night. You play the theme the same way, which is one-tenth or one-twentieth of the song, depending on the night of the performance. The rest of the time you are playing improvisation, so you never get tired of that."
He added he never knew where that improvisation would take him, but we know: into ears all over the world.
Brubeck is survived by Iola, four sons (all musicians like their dad), a daughter, grandsons and a great granddaughter.
Follow us on Twitter @OCWeeklymusic Like us on Facebook at Heard Mentality.
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