Dave Brubeck...we lost a legend today

An amazing artist and a wonderful person has passed today. God bless him.

He was neither Legend nor Pioneer. He was known for one tune off of one LP. He did have a long life and long career, In that respect he was blessed. I did not know him, but all I have heard and read, indicates he was a good person. A gentleman. Most of us would settle for that.
Cheers

Dear Rok2id, you're probably a good person and a gentleman also, but hardly in the mainstream of jazz critics. D.Brubeck made a significant contribution to the musical arts and was a master of polyrhythms, who could play one with the left hand and another with the right (not easy, you try it and see). His group with Paul Desmond on sax sounded amazing even if you knew nothing about jazz or imporvisation, and revealed even more to fans who were more deeply involved in the music. I wouldn't try to rank him amongst all the great pianists and composers anymore than i would try to say who was better, Basie or Ellington.
He was a great musician and i would suggest a certain album that i am crazy about and was until recently out of print- called My Favorite Things. I have the Japanese import CD and the vinyl as well. this is one beautiful note after another. i for one will really miss the guys who made this music possible.

We are not in disagreement. I agree with all you said. I will look for 'My Favorite Things.'
Thanks for the post.
Cheers

Truth be told Time Out was written by Paul Desmond. This doesn't cheapen Dave's contribution to jazz,Dave was an ambassador of sorts who traveled the world spreading the sounds of the genre he loved. He was a gentle,gracious soul whom opened many a door for others to ply their songs. He was upscale,a cut above and his volumes of work will stand the test of time.
I remember when I reveived my Mosiac vinyl box set of Paul Desmond and realized the sound of his sax was just as much a part of Dave's music as his piano. This box set is great and furthers the belief in my opinion that both Dave and Paul have been overlooked because they made it look easy.

There was a well written obituary in Thursday's New York Times. You can probably read it online.

How ironic that Absolute Sound has an article about him in the newest issue.

my favorite recording of his is The dave brubeck quartet at carnegie hall, performed in 1963. A great performance and a great recording. One of the great things about hifi is its a time machine of sorts, sit back and become part of a special night as it happened in 1963

He was given the very prestigious Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement in the arts. They don't give that to one hit wonders.

As an astute jazz aficionado, it's quite apparent that his critics aren't even remotely aware of his huge body of works, including many that I have on my top jazz shelf, along with Blakey and The Messengers, plus Yusef Lateef. One can not consider himself an "aficionado", if one is not acquainted with "Yusef Lateef", maybe one should "google" the name.

R.I.P.
His talent wasn't limited to the Jazz genre.