Dear Friends,
While I can’t claim to be a jazz aficionado the way perhaps Tom Godfrey can, the news of Dave Brubeck’s death this past week got my attention. The jazz pianist and composer was one day shy of turning 92 years old.
Those in-the-know about jazz may have appreciated Brubeck’s unusual time signatures, improvisational skills, and long career. What I appreciate about Dave Brubeck is his classic jazz piece “Take Five,” which is one of my dad’s favorite jazz recordings. Its catchy saxophone melody and simple piano riff still sound “cool” today. It’s one of those recordings that I have encountered over and over again in my life: from listening to it on the radio, television programs, and movie soundtracks to studying its 5/4 meter in my college “Music Appreciation” class at Oglethorpe.
What I also appreciate about Brubeck is that he strikes me as a person who really didn’t ever “take five.” He connected to his talent and passion early in life and stayed active as a pianist, composer, cultural emissary and educator up until the day he died. His racially integrated band was not always welcomed by club owners and hall managers in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Brubeck is reported to have cancelled a number of concerts during that time because of this.
For me, Brubeck is a wonderful model of someone who was in touch with his inner spark . . . that source of unlimited creative energy, dedication and generosity that exemplifies the best of the human spirit. May his example be ours as we strive to live in the spirit and by the spirit.
Yours,
Terry