Dave Brubeck is a jazz pianist and composer born on 6 December 1920. He is known for taking risks by experimenting with time signatures. He led the Dave Brubeck Quartet and he composed many famous pieces of jazz music including Blue Rondo à la Turk written in 9/8 and swing 4/4 and Unsquare Dance written in 7/8.
Dave Brubeck is one of the most famous experimenters of time signatures, but despite the controversy and criticism that his unconventional style seemed to draw, Brubeck never wavered from following his own path.
“What’s more important is to play the way you want to play or play the way they want you to play? Every individual should be expressing themselves, whether a politician or a minister or a policeman. For me it was more important to play the way I wanted to play. Often it got me fired.”
– Dave Brubeck, from Talking with Dave Brubeck Source: PBS website Rediscovering Dave Brubeck
Brubeck’s unique rhythms and style resonated with audiences. Brubeck not only won the hearts and loyalties of millions of jazz fans, he also created a sound that had crossover appeal, introducing jazz to new listeners.
For other jazz musicians and aficionados, these techniques – polyrhythm, polytonality and odd time signatures – became trademarks of Brubeck’s jazz style. Brubeck himself understood that they often made his style hard for other musicians to copy.
Examples of musicians who were influenced by the risks that Dave Brubeck took include:
- Fred Walker, saxophonist
- John Barry, composer
- Bedhead, a Texas indie rock band active in the 1990s
Activity: This activity focuses on developing your ability to notate rhythms in unfamiliar time signatures. It may be appropriate to review previous knowledge of rhythm and basic music theory skills before beginning this activity.