Dave Brubeck

The son of a cattle rancher, Dave Brubeck is famed for re-defining jazz piano with his unorthodox style and experimental rhythms, most famously on the classic 5:4 time signature instrumental Take Five, composed by his long-time musical partner, sax player Paul Desmond. Intending to follow his father into ranching, but after four years in the US Army - where he formed one of America's first racially integrated bands, The Wolfpack - Brubeck threw himself into jazz. In 1951 he formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond, launched their recording career in 1953 with the Jazz At Oberlin album and the following year they were signed to Columbia Records; releasing Jazz Goes To College (1954) with the classic line-up of Brubeck, Desmond, drummer Joe Morello and bass player Eugene Wright. In 1959 they released their most celebrated album, Time Out, including Take Five, Blue Rondo A La Turk and Three To Get Ready in a variety of groundbreaking time signatures. Other similarly experimental LPs followed to great acclaim while Brubeck developed a jazz musical The Real Ambassadors with a soundtrack that included Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, performed at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival. Brubeck disbanded his famous quartet in 1967 to concentrate on orchestral pieces and choral works and through the 1970s formed a new group with his sons Darius (keyboards), Dan (drums) and Chris (bass, trombone). He continued to compose new works, including the jazz opera Cannery Row Suite in 2006 and marked his 90th birthday with a concert in 2010.