JAM Magazine: April/May 1997 Issue: Storyville

It's About Time:
The Dave Brubeck Story
by Fred M. Hall
174 pp; plus index, photos, discography; foreword by Gene Lees
Published 1996 by University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville

Long ago, not in a galaxy far away, but at the old Blackhawk Jazz Club in San Francisco, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond accepted an invitation (between sets) to sit and talk with my father and me. Paul accepted a drink (Scotch, I think), Dave did not. He did, however, promise to play "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" in the next set. "I don't really understand your music," said my father, "but my 16 year old daughter is wild about it." "You don't have to understand it," said Paul. "Just sit back and enjoy it!" We surely did.

It's About Time has a double meaning here. It is "about time," finally, for a definitive Brubeck book; and with this one, we have a book about the "time," the wonderful counterpoint, the unusual time signatures and the rich harmonies that made the Brubeck trios and quartets so very popular, especially with college audiences in the 1950s (Brubeck even appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1954).

Written and well researched by Fred M. Hall, a jazz producer of impeccable credentials (Hall hosts the internationally syndicated radio show, "Swing Thing"), It's About Time is an enjoyable read. Mr. Hall takes us from Brubeck's childhood on a Concord, CA ranch (there, his mother, a music teacher, kept one upright and two grand pianos), through his years at the College of the Pacific where, as a resident of the Stockton-San Francisco area, he would meet up with other budding musicians, including several future colleagues. Among them: Ron Crotty, Dave Van Kriedt, Jack Six, Cal Tjader, Bob and Norman Bates, and "a shy, bespectacled clarinetist named Paul Breitenfeld" who would later change his name to Desmond ("I got it out of the phone book" he once said). The clarinet gave way to the alto sax, as everyone knows, and soon jazz history would change as well.

Hall also details Brubeck's hitch in Patton's Third Army, 104th Regiment in World War II (where Brubeck ended up leading a 16 piece band called "The Wolf Pack), and his return to civilian life where he became part of the burgeoning jazz scene in San Francisco (which included Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Bud Shank, Shelly Manne and Lee Konitz).

A large part of Hall's book deals with the quartet and its various members -- Desmond, Joe Dodge, Joe Morello, Eugene Wright, the Bates brothers -- as well as the group's day to day life on the road. There's also documentation of Brubeck's steady family life with Iola, his wife of over 50 years, and their six children, four of whom became musicians themselves. In the early years, Hall reveals, Iola managed the quartet's first bookings, called hundreds of colleges for concert dates, and even collaborated with her husband as a songwriter.

Of course, there is mention of the Paul Desmond composition "Take Five" -- the first million-selling jazz album -- that went on to become the Brubeck signature. And Hall tells of the resentment the song's popularity sparked among prominent critics who held to the belief that if any kind of music was that popular, it couldn't be good. (Hopefully an outdated notion!) Hall also relates, in detail, that Dave Brubeck is not just a composer of jazz music, but of oratorios, ballets and a mass, all of which have been critically acclaimed.

The book's discography -- dating to the Fantasy recordings of the early 1950s -- is the perfect supplement to It's About Time. Most of the older recordings are now again available on CD, as are Brubeck's more recent efforts. It's never too late to discover the music, or the life of one of the jazz world's most prominent voices. This book and the music that inspired it are all highly recommended.

-- Carol Heizman

RETURN TO APRIL/MAY 1997 MAIN INDEX

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© Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.






	Search our site:		It's About Time: The Dave Brubeck Story by Fred M. Hall 174 pp; plus index, photos, discography; foreword by Gene Lees Published 1996 by University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville Long ago, not in a galaxy far away, but at the old Blackhawk Jazz Club in San Francisco, Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond accepted an invitation (between sets) to sit and talk with my father and me. Paul accepted a drink (Scotch, I think), Dave did not. He did, however, promise to play "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" in the next set. "I don't really understand your music," said my father, "but my 16 year old daughter is wild about it." "You don't have to understand it," said Paul. "Just sit back and enjoy it!" We surely did. It's About Time has a double meaning here. It is "about time," finally, for a definitive Brubeck book; and with this one, we have a book about the "time," the wonderful counterpoint, the unusual time signatures and the rich harmonies that made the Brubeck trios and quartets so very popular, especially with college audiences in the 1950s (Brubeck even appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1954). Written and well researched by Fred M. Hall, a jazz producer of impeccable credentials (Hall hosts the internationally syndicated radio show, "Swing Thing"), It's About Time is an enjoyable read. Mr. Hall takes us from Brubeck's childhood on a Concord, CA ranch (there, his mother, a music teacher, kept one upright and two grand pianos), through his years at the College of the Pacific where, as a resident of the Stockton-San Francisco area, he would meet up with other budding musicians, including several future colleagues. Among them: Ron Crotty, Dave Van Kriedt, Jack Six, Cal Tjader, Bob and Norman Bates, and "a shy, bespectacled clarinetist named Paul Breitenfeld" who would later change his name to Desmond ("I got it out of the phone book" he once said). The clarinet gave way to the alto sax, as everyone knows, and soon jazz history would change as well. Hall also details Brubeck's hitch in Patton's Third Army, 104th Regiment in World War II (where Brubeck ended up leading a 16 piece band called "The Wolf Pack), and his return to civilian life where he became part of the burgeoning jazz scene in San Francisco (which included Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Bud Shank, Shelly Manne and Lee Konitz). A large part of Hall's book deals with the quartet and its various members -- Desmond, Joe Dodge, Joe Morello, Eugene Wright, the Bates brothers -- as well as the group's day to day life on the road. There's also documentation of Brubeck's steady family life with Iola, his wife of over 50 years, and their six children, four of whom became musicians themselves. In the early years, Hall reveals, Iola managed the quartet's first bookings, called hundreds of colleges for concert dates, and even collaborated with her husband as a songwriter. Of course, there is mention of the Paul Desmond composition "Take Five" -- the first million-selling jazz album -- that went on to become the Brubeck signature. And Hall tells of the resentment the song's popularity sparked among prominent critics who held to the belief that if any kind of music was that popular, it couldn't be good. (Hopefully an outdated notion!) Hall also relates, in detail, that Dave Brubeck is not just a composer of jazz music, but of oratorios, ballets and a mass, all of which have been critically acclaimed. The book's discography -- dating to the Fantasy recordings of the early 1950s -- is the perfect supplement to It's About Time. Most of the older recordings are now again available on CD, as are Brubeck's more recent efforts. It's never too late to discover the music, or the life of one of the jazz world's most prominent voices. This book and the music that inspired it are all highly recommended. -- Carol Heizman RETURN TO APRIL/MAY 1997 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.