Dave Brubeck Quartet

The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1967
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Jazz
Years active	1951–present
Website	davebrubeck.com
Members
Dave Brubeck Bobby Militello Michael Moore Randy Jones
Past members
Paul Desmond Bob Bates Joe Dodge Ron Crotty Lloyd Davis Joe Morello Norman Bates Eugene Wright Gerry Mulligan Jack Six Alan Dawson Darius Brubeck Chris Brubeck Dan Brubeck

The quartet in 1959 during the Time Out sessions. From left to right: Joe Morello, Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck, Eugene Wright.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet is an American jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano. They took up a long residency at San Francisco's Blackhawk nightclub and gained great popularity touring college campuses, releasing a series of albums with such titles as Jazz at Oberlin, Jazz Goes to College, and Jazz Goes to Junior College.

By 1958, after a handful of different drummers and bassists, the "Classic Quartet" — so-called because it remained as such virtually consistently until the group dissolved — had been assembled, consisting of Brubeck, Desmond, Joe Morello on drums, and Eugene Wright on bass. In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released Time Out, an album their label was enthusiastic about but nonetheless hesitant to release. The album contained all original compositions, almost none of which were in common time. Nonetheless, on the strength of these unusual time signatures (the album included "Take Five", "Blue Rondo à la Turk", and "Pick Up Sticks"), it quickly went platinum. The quartet followed up its success with several more albums in the same vein, including Time Further Out (1961), Countdown: Time in Outer Space, Time Changes, and Time In. These albums were also known for using contemporary paintings as cover art, featuring the work of S. Neil Fujita on Time Out, Joan Miró on Time Further Out, Franz Kline on Time in Outer Space, and Sam Francis on Time Changes (no artist's work, however, was featured on the cover of Time In). A high point for the group was their classic 1963 live album At Carnegie Hall, described by critic Richard Palmer as "arguably Dave Brubeck's greatest concert".

The "classic" Dave Brubeck Quartet broke up in 1967, except for a 25th anniversary reunion in 1976. Brubeck formed a new quartet in 1968. Today, the Dave Brubeck Quartet continues to tour the world, performing hits from the classic Quartet era as well as new material.

Members

Main lineups:

(1951–1956)

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
• Bob Bates – double bass
• Joe Dodge – drums

(on Jazz at Oberlin, 1953)

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
• Ron Crotty – double bass
• Lloyd Davis – drums

(1956–1958) Transitional quartet – enter Joe Morello

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
• Norman Bates – double bass
• Joe Morello – drums

(1958–1967) Classic quartet – enter Eugene Wright

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
• Eugene Wright – double bass (also credited "Gene Wright")
• Joe Morello – drums

And after the breakup:

(1968–1972) Quartet as "The Dave Brubeck Trio & Gerry Mulligan"

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone (almost permanent member)
• Jack Six – double bass
• Alan Dawson – drums

+

• Paul Desmond – alto saxophone (October 1972 quintet for We're All Together Again)

(1972–1976) As "The Darius Brubeck Ensemble" – with three of his sons and one guest; also performed as "Two Generations of Brubeck"

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Darius Brubeck – piano, electric piano
• Chris Brubeck – bass trombone, electric upright bass, electric fretless bass
• Dan Brubeck – drums (also credited "Daniel Brubeck")

+

• Paul Desmond – alto saxophone (guest soloist on some concerts)
• Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone (guest soloist on some concerts)

(1976) Classic quartet reunion – 25th anniversary

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
• Eugene Wright – double bass (also credited "Gene Wright")
• Joe Morello – drums

(1977–1990s) As "The New Brubeck Quartet" – with three of his sons and varying guests

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Darius Brubeck – piano, electric piano
• Chris Brubeck – bass trombone, electric upright bass, electric fretless bass
• Dan Brubeck – drums (also credited "Daniel Brubeck")

+

• Matthew Brubeck – cello (guest on a few sets)
• Bill Smith – clarinet (guest, such as 1987's Moscow Nights and In Moscow)
• Bobby Militello – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute (guest, such as 1993's Late Night Brubeck)
• Jack Six – double bass (guest on some sets)
• Randy Jones – drums (guest on some sets)

(Early 2000s–present) The Dave Brubeck Quartet

• Dave Brubeck – piano
• Bobby Militello – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute (since 1982)
• Michael Moore – double bass
• Randy Jones – drums (since 1979)

(Not every temporary lineup is listed.)

Discography

Further information: Dave Brubeck