|
Dear Friends,
Wishing you a Happy Spring! It seems Nature is celebrating this April with the most exciting display of hope and renewal I've ever seen.
Why is this year so special? Is it a certain combination of temperature and rain or is it especially meaningful because we are coming out of a long Covid winter? Concerts are coming back, many of them outdoors for greater safety, or with audiences spaced carefully at an indoor venues.
We musicians are looking forward to the opportunity of "flying" again. Performing music is a wonderful communal activity both for the artists and the audience. It is one of the beautiful things our civilization has developed over thousands of years from the first log drum to a full symphonic experience.
|
|
|
|
April is Jazz Appreciation Month. Back in 2010 Dave Brubeck was literally the "poster child" (at 90 years old) with a vibrant tribute by Leroy Neiman splashed around the jazz world and beyond. The Smithsonian Museum printed 250,000 posters for free distribution to schools, libraries, music and jazz educators, radio stations, arts presenters and U.S. embassies worldwide.
The Wilton Library is celebrating Jazz Appreciation Day on April 30 by broadcasting a concert by our long-time friend Taylor Eigsti, that was filmed in December at Dave's former home in Wilton. I first met Taylor Eigsti when I was playing with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. We were performing at the Paul Masson Winery and I was warming up on the trombone in a huge room filled with aromatic oak casks, when this 11 year old kid, escorted by his mother, Nancy, walked up to introduce her talented boy. Little did I know that we would become musical collaborators over the next decades. My brother Dan played on his first record "Tay's Groove" when Taylor was just 14. Three years later he was a special guest pianist on the Brubeck Brothers Quartet's recording Intuition. See below for more info on registering for this special concert broadcast.
Cheers!
Chris
|
|
|
|
April 30 is International Jazz Day!
|
|
|
Celebrate International Jazz Day this year on Friday, April 30, 2021 at 7pm ET with the Wilton Library broadcast of a solo piano concert by Taylor Eigsti, recorded last winter in front of a live [socially distanced!] audience at Dave's Connecticut home.
Taylor works his magic on Dave’s grand piano in the dramatic two-story music room where Dave composed many of his works. Chris Brubeck also sits in and jams with Taylor on a couple of tunes.
This will be a very special one-time concert broadcast that you won’t want to miss since the recording will not be accessible after this special evening!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revisit the Unexpected Turns of Dave's 2020 Centennial with Chris Brubeck
|
|
|
Chicago Jazz's Jeff Cebulski spoke with Chris Brubeck about the events of the past year — the family’s near-tragic pandemic journey, the new Brubeck collection at the Wilton Library, and Dave's Centennial.
📸 Chris, Dan, Darius, Dave, and Iola Brubeck, 1970s
|
|
|
|
Brubeck Spring Swing Playlist
|
|
|
Spring has swung!
Dance along with Dave on this brand new “Brubeck Spring Swing” Spotify playlist.
Turn on your speakers and click the link below to get into the spring groove.
|
|
|
|
Earth Day 2021: "Earth Is Our Mother"
|
|
|
Earth Day and the jazz world intersected when Dave and Iola wrote a piece called "Earth is Our Mother." This more classical work is scored for chorus, vocal soloist, chamber orchestra and jazz combo all performing music inspired by the notable speech given by Chief Seattle of the Squamish tribe in 1854. Dave and Iola felt that clean air and water were an extension of our civil rights so they were naturally attracted and inspired by Chief Seattle's words:
"This we know: All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it."
|
|
|
|
Time OutTakes now available on vinyl!
"Dave Brubeck Quartet's 'Time OutTakes' has made it onto vinyl, and it sounds rich, luminous and immediate, with Joe Morello's drums in particular captured beautifully ... it's a must-have for Brubeck lovers."
–Jazzwise, March 2021
|
|
|
|
The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, featuring pianist Chuck Lamb, guitarist Mike DeMicco, Dan on drums and myself on bass and trombone have been touring together for around 20 years until Covid forced the cancellation of about 100 concerts in 2020. Many concerts were postponed and rescheduled several times.
|
|
|
We are happy to announce that our first live gig together will remarkably take place next month in Iola, Kansas. Iola is a very uncommon name, and it was our mother's unusual name. So we are taking this as some kind of sign from the Great Beyond that it is time to start playing music for the people, in person again this Spring!
- Chris
|
|
|
Gigs are being re-booked and new dates are popping up every day. Stay up-to-date with all the latest on the Brubeck events calendar.
APRIL 30, 2021
Jazz on Jackson: Eric Mintel Quartet Tribute to Dave Brubeck
South Jackson Civic Center
7:00 PM CT
APRIL 30, 2021
Wilton Library broadcasts “Hot & Cool Jazz: Taylor Eigsti”
filmed at Dave Brubeck’s Wilton, CT home
7:00 PM ET
MAY 16, 2021
Brubeck Brothers Quartet at Bowlus Fine Arts Center
Iola, Kansas
2 PM & 7:00 PM
JUNE 17, 2021
Brubeck Brothers Quartet returns to Pro Musica in Joplin, MO
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Outdoor Location & Time TBA
JUNE 19, 2021
Brubeck Brothers Quartet at Jazz In June, Norman, OK
Brookhaven Village, Andrews Park, Norman, OK
Time TBA
JUNE 24, 2021
Brubeck Brothers Quartet at Norwood Village Green Concert Series
Norwood, NY
Time TBA
JUNE 26, 2021
Darius Brubeck Quartet at Thaxted Festival
Thaxted, Essex, UK
7:30 PM
|
|
|
|
Strachey: These Foolish Things / Dave Brubeck Quartet, University of Rome, 1959
|
|
|
|
|
