Speakeasy forum: Dave Brubeck has passed

I remember when Cronkite died a few years back, I mentioned it to the family as a matter of course and they looked at me and "who was he?!" He'd not been nightly news anchor for 28 years by the age he died at. My grown children had no idea who he was. I've often thought it was interesting how much attention someone famous does or not receive based on how far from their famous years they've lived before dying. I sometimes think maybe that's why Betty White stays so busy, because when she finally goes, everyone will still remember her, even if not the younger years. Same for George Burns when he died.

and with a wonderful musicianship. The worst day of his life was the day Time magazine was delivered to his hotel room by Duke Ellington. It had Brubeck's face on the cover. Brubeck was thinking, Why not Ellington, or Armstrong, or Basie or Fitzgerald or Holliday, anybody but me.

Give your daughter the Take Five Album which also has Blue Rondo a la Turk which is in 9/8 (also the time signature for an Irish Jig) but instead of being split into an almost waltz time 123,123,123, it is split 12,12,12,123, then slips into 4/4. It has another 5/4 song in Unsquare Dance which is so much fun, and was choreographed for TV by the great woman choreographer of Copeland and others music whose name escapes me at the moment. Strange Meadowlark is 3/4 I think. (it's hard counting beats at the same time as you're playing the tune in your head). The whole album is a major delight, and if your daughter plays try her on that, and maybe she'll graduate to Thelonius Monk and Art Tatum.

Look up Tiger Rag on YouTube as played by Art Tatum. A man who learned to play from player piano rolls, and who didn't realize that the roll he was copying was by two players on the same piano, so he just played all four hands by himself.

Rob