For many people in the fifties the music of Dave Brubeck was some sort of introduction to jazz. His music was accessible, fresh and very popular. He was admired for his own inimitable style: the block chords, the asymmetrical metres (5/4, 9/8) and the angular syncopated timing. The critics highly praised his first avant-garde ensemble, the Dave Brubeck Octet in San Francisco. The hit Take Five, composed by band member Paul Desmond, proved to be a turnaround. While millions of copies of Brubeck’s LP Time Out were sold, the critics scorned this ‘music for cocktail parties’. Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Louis Armstrong and Charles Mingus, who were always loud in praise of Brubeck, put some heart into him. Brubeck is a living legend in his late eighties, who still proves to be an extremely lyrical musician.
