Jim Pepper- Dave Brubeck

I will admit, before Friday’s class I was always rather apathetic when it came to Dave Brubeck, I never had anything against him that made me dislike him but at the same time I was never a big fan. I found his rhythm section boring, and as a bassist that is a big deal to me, but never thought about the fact that they haven’t done much recognizable work outside of Brubeck’s Quartet. I always found the experimenting with time signatures to be interesting, and I have a newfound respect for his piano playing since Friday that I never truly appreciated before.
I did not really think much of Brubeck as an “outsider” before the class, it just never came to mind, but it does make sense for me now. The list of collaborators Brubeck had is much shorter than other contemporaries who are at or near his level of popularity. And for the past fifty years, he’s primarily stuck with the same few songs when he performs live. But this brings up the fact that his fans are primarily non-jazz fans. His audiences know exactly what to expect when they see him perform, since he draws on the same few tunes, but he seems to be content with that. Looking at his playing techniques like using polyrhythm and polytonalities, I think much of that goes unnoticed by many listeners who are not familiar with much jazz outside of Brubeck’s work, and they probably are not familiar with other jazz pianists enough that they can compare him with.
I am still frustrated from Brubeck’s own personal accounts and interviews, where he allows myths to be viewed as fact, increasing his status as celebrity, and he obviously exaggerates his resume, particularly with the examples from the Octet period in trying to appear stylistically before the Miles Davis Nonet in the jazz history narrative. However, it is not like Brubeck is the only performer to have ever done this. But it shows there is much research to be done to distinguish fact from legend, but unfortunately this will probably only be done posthumously because of the tight control over telling Brubeck’s story.
Based on what we heard and saw with the interviews, I would agree that there were definitely missed opportunities for questions that focused on his approach to and study of harmony, something that definitely makes him stand out among other musicians and seems to go overlooked in many ways. If he focused more on this rather than exaggerating his personal biography and individual celebrity, he might have more respect and a wider fan base within the jazz world.