01/06/2020
Music journalist Clark explores the life of composer and bandleader Dave Brubeck (1920–2012) in this concise but comprehensive biography. Culling from 10 days of interviews with the pianist in 2003, Clark analyses Brubeck’s music, citing the pianist’s “absorption in composition, the various ways in which composed music intersected with his unassailable belief in the urgency of improvisation, formed his approach to the piano—which became a laboratory in sound for this composer who improvised and improviser who composed.” The author further explores Brubeck’s 1959 odd meter masterpiece in 5/4 time, “Take Five”; the equally complex “Blue Rondo la Turk” and “It’s a Raggedy Waltz”; and his innovative concept albums, including Time Out and Jazz Impressions of Eurasia. Clark details fascinating points from Brubeck’s life—including studying classical music with Darius Milhaud at Mills College, his time in the army, his refusal to play in the segregated South because his black bassist was not allowed to be on the same stage, and performing with his sons later in life. Clark hits the right notes for die-hard Brubeck disciples and jazz neophytes alike. (Feb.)
Finalist for Jazz Journalists Association's Jazz Book of the Year (2021)
"Biography, social history, musicological exploration ... this wonderful book is many things. But above all, it is a sort of intoxicating literary jam session. Words and sentences spit and spin and swing, creating rhythms and harmonies worthy of Brubeck himself. The sheer descriptive verve, page after page, made me want to listen to every single musical example cited. A major achievement."—STEPHEN HOUGH, classical pianist and composer
"This is the writing about jazz that we've been waiting for. By keeping the music at the center, and interweaving the background of cultural, political and social change to illuminate the development of the music, Clark gives us a complete picture of the artist's life and work."—MIKE WESTBROOK, jazzpianist and composer
"DAVE BRUBECK: A Life in Time is about the timeless life of the inspired and inspiring jazz master Dave Brubeck. This biography, written with love and passion, is a landmark document that is insightful and inspiring all in itself. Bravo!"—JOE LOVANO, jazz saxophonist
"A nontraditional biography that sings...as unconventional and compelling as its subject."—KIRKUS REVIEWS
"A concise but comprehensive biography... [Clark] hits the right notes for die-hard Brubeck disciples and jazz neophytes alike."—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"[A] remarkable biography... [Clark writes] intelligently and joyously... [and] fittingly, for a Brubeck biography, this is also a multifarious work; adventurous with narrative and structure."—MOJO
"The emphasis on the technical side of Brubeck's music, and on Brubeck's impact on rock and other nonjazz music, is thought provoking."
—BOOKLIST
"[This book] is that rare beast: an uncompromisingly analytical study that absorbs and entertains, illuminating both its subject and his social context."—LONDON JAZZ NEWS
"A brilliant book."—JAZZ PROFILES
"[A]n engaging new biography... we feel the grain and texture and historical weight of single moments, but only because we also understand the larger picture. It's a rare jazz biography that gives us both, so eloquently."—THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
"Time Out may be what Brubeck (1920-2012) is known for, but, as Philip Clark reveals in Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time, it is merely the highlight of his long career as a composer, pianist and bandleader. Mr. Clark, a British music journalist, has been writing about Brubeck for more than 20 years. The present book is a crystallization of an interview he conducted with his subject over the course of several days in 2003, supplemented by further interviews with Brubeck, his family, his musicians and associates, and extensive research in the Brubeck archives. Thorough and authoritative, Mr. Clark has done a great service to his subject's legacy."—The Wall Street Journal
"Richly detailed... a great achievement."—The Wire
"An articulate, scrupulously-researched account based on first-hand information, this book presents Brubeck's contribution to music with the critical insight that it deserves."—BBC Music Magazine
"Compelling... By starting in [Brubeck's] autumnal years, the book almost cinematically conjures flashbacks to the past, which get fleshed out by interviews along the way."—Jazz Times
"Detailed, informed and engaging... Philip Clark's revealing study enables a deeper and more complete understanding of this artist and pioneer's life and work."—Gramophone
"It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified to write a Brubeck bio than Philip Clark, who spent long periods of time with the man, his band members, and his wife Iola; had unlimited access to his papers and correspondence; and has been a flag-waving fan of the music for ages. His book contains a head-spinning amount of detail bordering on micro-history, with in-depth accounts of recording dates and tours going back to the beginning, as well as the kind of musical analysis that could only have come from years of close listening. To call it 'exhaustive' is to undersell it."—The Los Angeles Review of Books
02/01/2020
In 2003, music journalist and composer Clark followed the Dave Brubeck Quartet for 10 days on a tour through Britain. More than 15 years later, Clark relies on his interviews with Dave Brubeck (1920–2012) and his bandmates, as well as meticulous research, to pen a comprehensive, admiring biography of the jazz piano great, starting with Brubeck's 1953 concert tour with headliner Charlie Parker. The author turns technical in places, discussing how Brubeck balanced two goals—composition and improvisation—and how he relied on counterpoint and polytonality, which he learned from classical composer Darius Milhaud. Clark also covers Brubeck's classically oriented octet and the formation of his trio and then quartet with saxophonist Paul Desmond in the early 1950s. Brubeck enjoyed mega-success with the innovative rhythms of Time Out and "Take Five," embarked on a State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia in 1958, and took a courageous stand against racial discrimination during the civil rights era. The author concludes by examining the pianist's more musically eclectic later years. VERDICT Though needlessly skipping around the Brubeck chronology, Clark offers a rock-solid biography of a musical legend that will appeal to jazz fans and expands on works such as Fred M. Hall's It's About Time.—David P. Szatmary, formerly with Univ. of Washington, Seattle
2019-12-08
The iconic jazz musician receives an adoring biography as unconventional and compelling as its subject.
As music journalist Clark notes, Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), "thoughtful and sensitive as he was, had been changed as a musician and as a man by the troubled times through which he lived and during which he produced…optimistic, life-enhancing art." The author eschews a standard, chronological narrative in favor of a forensic analysis of classic Brubeck cuts like "Take Five," "Blue Rondo á la Turk," "Unsquare Dance," and many more. Just as many jazz greats used modest chord progressions to underpin their masterpieces, Clark employs a throughline of his own involving the 10 days he spent interviewing Brubeck on tour in the spring of 2003 to achieve something beyond the run-of-the-mill biography. The author is "riffing" like his musical idols when he writes about Brubeck's penchant for "polytonality" and "polyrhythms." A typical example of his exhaustive musing: "Laying arpeggios on thick, Brubeck recapped his theme as Benjamin's ‘arco' bass seesawed through the texture, spiraling around the rich chromaticism with an intense throbbing tone that projected like a whole section of cellos." However fascinating his subject's artistry may be, delving so deeply into the DNA of Brubeck's decadeslong musical catalog does have the potential to alienate more casual music fans. Thankfully, Clark also hits all the right biographical notes along the way, including Brubeck's time in the Army; his early days studying at Mills College in Oakland under the tutelage of Darius Milhaud; his efforts to steer clear of mobster Morris Levy, who was heavily involved in the 1950s jazz scene; his defiance of Jim Crow segregation in the South; and his deft leading of his Dave Brubeck Quartet to superstardom. The mix of musicology and biography allows Clark to paint an imitate portrait of Brubeck as a man of great personal and artistic integrity, and that may not have been possible if the author had simply stuck to a traditional score.
A nontraditional biography that sings despite its studious blocks of theory-heavy dissection.
Narrator Fleet Cooper’s audible appreciation for his subject is fitting for this definitive biography of the great jazz innovator Dave Brubeck. Along with the informed perspective of the author—a music journalist and Brubeck confidant—Cooper’s performance captures the wonder of the pianist/composer’s accomplishments, as well as the drama and historical significance of his career. The narrative weaves in and out of Brubeck’s California upbringing and family life as it meticulously chronicles his rise to musical preeminence. The stories about the sidemen he played with, including the members of his famous quartet, are priceless. With anecdotes about the music business and mainstream culture providing satisfying texture, this is a most engaging and important biography of one of the twentieth century’s most prominent musicians. T.W. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Narrator Fleet Cooper’s audible appreciation for his subject is fitting for this definitive biography of the great jazz innovator Dave Brubeck. Along with the informed perspective of the author—a music journalist and Brubeck confidant—Cooper’s performance captures the wonder of the pianist/composer’s accomplishments, as well as the drama and historical significance of his career. The narrative weaves in and out of Brubeck’s California upbringing and family life as it meticulously chronicles his rise to musical preeminence. The stories about the sidemen he played with, including the members of his famous quartet, are priceless. With anecdotes about the music business and mainstream culture providing satisfying texture, this is a most engaging and important biography of one of the twentieth century’s most prominent musicians. T.W. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
