Here's an excerpt from a letter to a friend a few years ago that will give you an idea of my feelings about Dave Brubeck and his music:
Sunday the 23rd of June, 1996, will forever be a day to remember, for me. Although I hadn't managed to get hold of a ticket for the concert, I was told that if I showed up there was a good chance that some Corporate Sponsors' tickets might have been returned. So I made my way to the venue—Riverhill High School—and waited. Sure enough, somebody handed in a few tickets and I was able to buy one—$25. Twenty five dollars! For an audience with God! I would probably have paid $200 had I known what was to come. Seating was on a first come first served basis, so I found myself a spot about half way back, on a stackable plastic chair that was set up in a wide aisle across the middle of the auditorium. There were more comfortable seats, but here I had an end of row position, with plenty of room for my long legs, so I was happy. It was an eclectic crowd. The majority, like me, were 50 plus, but there were teens and octogenarians. I chatted to the couple sitting next to me and found out that the husband had been a fan for as long as, if not longer than, I had. He and I swapped stories about the early records we had bought, and I suggested to his wife that the " Time Signatures" CD set would make a great birthday or Christmas gift for him. Then I settled back and waited for the concert to start. I fantasized a bit—he would walk on stage and say that his drummer had been taken ill, and was there anybody in the audience who could sit in for the night....... The time finally arrived for things to start and Denise Koch, the news anchor from WJZ-TV, walked onto the stage to make the introduction. At the end of her short presentation she uttered the words that sent chills and thrills down my spine...." Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to The Dave Brubeck Quartet." The first—and last—time I had seen Dave in concert was, I believe, 1957, with you, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. I don't know how we did it, but we had box seats that looked down onto the stage. This time the setting was a little less salubrious, but I couldn't have cared less. Much as I loved Brubeck back in the 50s, I have since overlaid on that a further forty years of appreciative listening, culminating in my buying the " Time Signatures" CD set. This has enabled me to enjoy some of his newer work that I hadn't heard before, and hear again some of his earlier pieces—'sans scratches'! Well, the concert itself was wonderful. The quartet was made up of Dave on the piano—of course, Jack Six on bass, Bobby Militello on alto and Randy Jones on drums. Bobby is the newest recruit to the group, having first played with Dave about six or seven years ago. He has a range of styles from a gentle Desmondesque to a more upbeat Parker-like tone. Actually, he reminded me a lot of Tubby Hayes, although Tubby used to play tenor. Randy hails from England and has been with Dave for sixteen years. He's good, very good, but he's no Joe Morello. There's a wonderful story behind Jack Six. He's been with Dave for twenty-seven years! Back in 1969, Dave was working on an oratorio and was due to make a premier performance in Chapel Hill in North Carolina where he was on tour. His bass player was on loan from the New York Philharmonic, and was called back for an important performance with them. Dave asked his drummer " Do you know a bass player who can sight-read a ninety-minute score, yet can also improvise?" ! Believe it or not his drummer said that he did know of somebody, but he lived in New Jersey. Dave contacted Jack, who said he would be pleased to join him if only he could get connecting flights to Chapel Hill. Remember, this was in the 60s, not the 90s, but he managed it—it took virtually all day, but he got there. When Dave met him at the local airport, about three hours before the performance, he asked if Jack would like to go to dinner—he hadn't had a decent meal all day. But Jack said " I think I ought to look at the score, don't you?" ! He read it over, played that evening and has been with the band ever since. When it was all over, I and a few other die-hards hung around near the entrance to the backstage area in the hopes of seeing the 'great one'. To cut a long story short, after about a half-hour wait we were invited back to the dressing rooms to meet the members of the group. I thought I had died and gone to heaven—I still haven't come down since that night and it's been almost three weeks now. Dave was a gentleman. He certainly looks rather frail now, but he is in his seventies. But he was a delight to talk to. I told him that I had last seen him in London and he asked if that was with his kids. " No" I said " This was about forty years ago!" " Oh, my!" he said " That must have been with Paul!" After asking him to sign my programme and the booklet from the " Time Signatures" set—yes, I'd taken it with me just in case such an opportunity should present itself—I chatted with the rest of the group for some time, too. Randy and I talked a lot about the British drummers I had grown up with; Tony Kinsey, Eric Delaney and Basil Kirchin. I mentioned to Bobby that he reminded me of Tubby Hayes and he said the he also plays tenor—more than alto, usually—but said that it might be the fact that they both used Selmers that made the sounds so alike. Finally it was time to go. As I walked out of the side entrance of the school and started off towards my car—the last one on the lot, as far as I could see—I sensed a group of people come out of the entrance behind me, and suddenly I heard a lone voice call out " Goodnight!" I turned and looked and there, waving to me, stood Dave. Imagine, he saw me walking away and took the trouble to call out to me. Dave Brubeck wished me goodnight as I left the concert! I still can't get over the fact that he, a god in my eyes, bothered to do that for one of his fans. Perhaps I had touched something in him, that night, who knows? As I said at the start of this letter, Sunday the 23rd of June, 1996, will forever be a day to remember, for me!
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