Dave brubeck take five video10/19/2023 All this came together when he and his wife, Iola, co-wrote a musical designed for Louis Armstrong - another cultural ambassador, and an outspoken figure on civil rights. Being a jazz musician (especially a successful white bandleader who employed a black bassist, Gene Wright), Brubeck was also keenly aware of how racism, both institutional and overt, worked in American society. Brubeck was a veteran of such tours, and it showed in his recordings: "Blue Rondo a la Turk" was inspired by folk music he'd heard in Turkey. State Department as cultural ambassadors for American creativity. Click here or on the image.At the height of the Cold War, popular jazz artists were often deployed by the U.S. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").ĭavid Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.ĭuke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Doing so supports TDMB because we get a small percentage on anything you buy. If you shop for music or anything else at Amazon, please consider going their directly from one of the many Amazon links at this site. Brubeck is said to have glanced at the magazine and looked up at Ellington - who Philip said was one of his heroes - and said, “It should have been you.”Īs great as Brubeck was, it’s impossible to argue he was more important than Duke Ellington. Ellington knocked on Brubeck’s door, handed him the magazine and congratulated him. Brubeck happened to be staying at the same hotel as Duke Ellington when the issue was published. In 1954, Brubeck became the second jazz musician to be featured on the cover of Time magazine (Louis Armstrong was featured five years earlier). Philip verified a touching story that illustrates how life worked back then. Jazz, of course, was dominated by African-Americans. The final time element is when Brubeck lived and worked.
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