Bruce Wands Comments – Class 5 – Dave Brubeck

Bruce Wands Comments – Class 5 – Dave Brubeck

This class greatly expanded my knowledge of Dave Brubeck. I was only marginally familiar with him and had only listened to a few recordings. Lewis’s analysis of his playing style was particularly informative. He does play in a unique manner and I “get” his playing much more now. It is a little surprising to me that he is so famous compared to other players. As Lewis mentioned, much of this is due to Dave’s expertise in self-promotion and the crafting of his public image. I did log onto the www.jazzicons.com site and it looks like some great DVDs are there. Lewis’s wrap up conclusion and the five major points about Dave Brubeck helped to give me a better perspective. I would have liked to have more attention focused on Paul Desmond. I think that Desmond played a major role in Brubeck’s success. While Dave’s style was chordal, intellectual and relatively accessible, Paul’s lyrical and “safe” style complimented Dave and I feel it is more the sum of the parts that brought the success, rather than just Dave. In some ways, they should have shared a double bill, rather than being known collectively as Dave Brubeck. However, I did find one DVD released in 2008 titled Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond: Take Five, which was from 1961.