Accessibility links
Dave Brubeck Dave Brubeck artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music

Dave Brubeck
A Braid Of Words: Guest DJ Eduardo Halfon, Author Of 'The Polish Boxer'

Guatemalan author Eduardo Halfon's most recent book, The Polish Boxer, mesmerized us. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Alt.Latino

A Braid Of Words: Guest DJ Eduardo Halfon, Author Of 'The Polish Boxer'

This week on Alt.Latino, the Guatemalan author joins us to discuss his latest book, The Polish Boxer. Hear a conversation about Guatemala, Judaism in Latin America and, of course, music.

A Braid Of Words: Guest DJ Eduardo Halfon, Author Of 'The Polish Boxer'

Listen · 34:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/181136776/182804858" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Dave Brubeck Quartet On JazzSet

Dave Brubeck at Newport. Wiqan Ang for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Wiqan Ang for NPR

JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater

Dave Brubeck Quartet On JazzSet

WBGO

Brubeck swung the door open to a new world of free-flowing, where-is-this-going music. JazzSet remembers him with a set from the 2009 Newport Jazz Festival.

Dave Brubeck Quartet On JazzSet

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/167654793/167624540" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Dave Brubeck On Piano Jazz

Dave Brubeck at the 32nd Kennedy Center Honors. Kris Connor/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Kris Connor/Getty Images

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Dave Brubeck On Piano Jazz

Jazz giant Dave Brubeck turns 90 this month. In this 1997 session, Brubeck and host Marian McPartland perform duets in "Just You, Just Me" and Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way."

Dave Brubeck On Piano Jazz

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/131972176/166578129" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Classical Crib Sheet: Top 5 Stories This Week

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, whose recording of music by John Adams made our Top 10 of 2012. Bill Swerbenski/courtesy of the artists hide caption

toggle caption
Bill Swerbenski/courtesy of the artists

Deceptive Cadence

Classical Crib Sheet: Top 5 Stories This Week

What you want to know about classical music this week, from our ten must-hear albums to the Grammy nominations to Dave Brubeck's classical music and composer Jonathan Harvey's passing. Plus: New York City Opera selling most of its sets and the jailhouse orchestra that players don't want to leave.

Celebrating The Life Of Jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck

In a 1999 interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross, Dave Brubeck talked about his decades in the music industry and his first love: rodeo roping. Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Music Interviews

Celebrating The Life Of Jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck

Fresh Air

The jazz master died on Wednesday at age 91. In a 1999 interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross he talked about his decades in the music industry and his first love: rodeo roping.

Celebrating The Life Of Jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck

Listen · 33:02
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/166724259/166725408" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Remembering The Vital Force Of Jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck performing on the pilot episode of a television program in 1965. CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

The Record

Remembering The Vital Force Of Jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck

One of the most recognized and recognizable musicians of the postwar era — the piano player whose "Take Five" was a pop hit — died Wednesday, one day shy of 92.

Remembering The Vital Force Of Jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck

Listen · 7:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/166571712/166593633" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Forgotten Gems From The Dave Brubeck Quartet

The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Review

Music Articles

Forgotten Gems From The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Fresh Air

In December, Columbia released a box set of the 19 studio albums Dave Brubeck's quartet recorded between 1955 and 1966. Besides familiar titles like Time Out and Dave Digs Disney, there were a host of all-but-forgotten albums. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a few of them are well-worth tracking down.

Forgotten Gems From The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Listen · 8:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/148451067/148451142" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Highlights From The 2009 Newport Jazz Festival

Dave Brubeck is the most-featured artist of all time at the Newport Jazz Festival. Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Getty Images

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Highlights From The 2009 Newport Jazz Festival

Last weekend's festival packed in a dizzying array of talent, all performing in the span of 32 hours. We listened closely to as much of it as we could and picked five of the best songs — though certainly only a tiny sampling of the greatest moments — from our recordings.

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Newport Jazz Festival 2009

Dave Brubeck performs at Newport Jazz. Wiqan Ang hide caption

toggle caption
Wiqan Ang

Newport Jazz Festival

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Newport Jazz Festival 2009

WBGO

It's been 50 years since his Time Out, and its crossover hits "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo a la Turk," first appeared in record shops. And at age 88, he says he still loves playing that material.

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Newport Jazz Festival 2009

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/111656445/111727832" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Music Articles

Dave Brubeck: An Unlikely Hit, 50 Years Strong

In 1959, jazz pianist Dave Brubeck topped the pop charts and shook up the notion of rhythm in jazz with an odd-metered song called "Take Five." On the occasion of its golden anniversary and a new reissue of Time Out, Brubeck explains why it was such a hit.

Dave Brubeck: An Unlikely Hit, 50 Years Strong

Listen · 7:45
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/105322899/105339888" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Music Articles

Dave Brubeck: Composing Ansel Adams

Millions have discovered the now-familiar landmarks of California's Yosemite Valley through the extraordinary black-and-white photographs of Ansel Adams. Now, jazz legend Dave Brubeck aims to bring musical emotion to the experience of viewing Adams' work with a new piece.

Dave Brubeck: Composing Ansel Adams

Listen · 6:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/102656153/102670780" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript