Exceptionally, the Festival has decided to present a Special Issue Miles Davis Award, a special honour to celebrate Dave Brubeck's life's work, remarkable career and 90th birthday in December.
Before Dave Brubeck, jazz was essentially an East Coast affair: New Orleans, Chicago, New York... Enter a pianist, in late '40s San Francisco, who would defy all conventions, integrating counterpoint, improvisation and polyphony in his distinctive style, with arrangements that would become his trademark, as well as the preserve of a new kind of jazz christened West Coast Cool. Brubeck would go on to enjoy a success that far surpassed the traditional parameters of jazz: look no further than Time Out (1959), the first jazz album to sell over one million copies. Through the succeeding decades, he has driven his career with the same energy and innovative spirit, collecting an array of honours and accolades: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, induction into the Playboy Hall of Fame and the Downbeat Hall of Fame, honorary doctorates, and the creation of the Brubeck Institute by the University of the Pacific.
His Festival appearances have been events in and of themselves, notably his collaboration with the OSM, in 1987; the sacred music of To Hope! A Celebration, delivered as a superb “mass" with The Tudor Swingers (1991); his performance with his two sons-Chris on bass and Dan on drums-in 1993; the very special collaboration between Brubeck, his quartet, Angèle Dubeau and La Pietà, in 2000; his two evenings in the Invitation series two years ago, or last summer's celebration of the 50th anniversary of his famed Time Out. And today, over 50 years into his career, this Festival favourite-certified as a “living legend" by the American Library of Congress-continues to amaze live audiences wherever he performs!
