Media contact:
Michael O'Daniel We Build Winners 1-323-957-1830 1-888-327-1401 [email protected]
DAVE BRUBECK BEGINS EUROPEAN TOUR NOVEMBER 16 WITH CONCERT COMMEMORATING NUREMBERG TRIALS; WILL CELEBRATE 85th BIRTHDAY WITH LONDON SYMPHONY
NUREMBERG, GERMANY: Legendary composer and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and his Quartet begin a fall tour of Europe November 16 with a concert at Nuremberg, Germany's Schauspielhaus, presented by the City of Nuremberg as part of its 60th anniversary commemoration of the Nuremberg Trials.
During the tour Brubeck will celebrate his 85th birthday on December 6 in the first of two dates with the London Symphony Orchestra, with which he has frequently performed and recorded.
Brubeck was stationed in Nuremberg in 1945 with General George S. Patton's Third Army. While he did not attend the Trials, his band The Wolf Pack -- the first integrated band in the military -- was part of a USO show that reopened the Nuremberg Opera House on July 1, 1945. Prior to that, the Opera House had served as The Wolf Pack's rehearsal facility after U.S. troops had occupied the city.
“One of my most vivid memories of that period is sitting in the audience for the first post-war performance of 'Hansel and Gretel' at the Nuremberg Opera House, along with hundreds of excited German children and some parents," recalls Brubeck. “There was so much joy, and a feeling of returning to normalcy. I think of those days each time I come to Nuremburg and have the privilege of returning to that beautiful stage."
Dr. Ulrich Maly, Nuremberg's Lord Mayor, invited Brubeck to participate in the City's commemoration of the Trials after hearing Brubeck's 2004 solo piano CD on Telarc, “Private Brubeck Remembers." The CD is a collection of World War II-era standards plus the Brubeck originals “We Crossed the Rhine" and “Weep No More," written for his wife Iola. On a limited-edition companion CD, Brubeck is interviewed by former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite and reminisces about his World War II days and his stay in Nuremberg.
Dr. Hans Hesselmann, director of the City of Nuremberg's Office of Human Rights, noted that Brubeck's fight for tolerance, peace and the recognition of human rights throughout his career was an important factor in the City's decision to invite him.
The Brubeck Quartet -- Bobby Militello, alto sax and flute, Michael Moore, bass, and Randy Jones, drums -- will play 16 dates in Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, and the UK, six of them with symphony or chamber orchestra. (In addition to his extensive catalogue of jazz originals, many of which have become standards, Brubeck has written more than 50 works for orchestra, chorus, solo voice, string quartet, ballet, or the musical theatre.)
Tour cities in addition to Nuremberg and London include Hoersching, Villach, Vienna and Kapfenburg, Austria; Barcelona, Spain; Warsaw, Poland; Lausanne, Bern, Basel and Zurich, Switzerland; and Munich, Dusseldorf, and Ludwigshafen, Germany.
On December 6, the London Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Russell Gloyd will present an all-Brubeck program including the premiere of a birthday tribute by Darius Brubeck. Four Brubeck sons will join in the program: Darius (keyboards), Chris (electric bass and trombone), Dan (drums) and Matthew (cello).
On December 17, the London Symphony and Chorus along with the St. Luke's Children's Chorus will perform Brubeck's Christmas cantata, “La Fiesta de la Posada," in which he will be joined once again by his sons. This program will be repeated in December 19 in Munich and December 20 in Ludwigshafen, Germany, with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Madrigalchor der Hochschule fur Musik und Theater of Munich.
Along with his 85th birthday, the year 2005 has contained numerous other milestones for Brubeck, including a 50th anniversary appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, where he was joined by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; a concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra observing the 40th anniversary of his debut with that orchestra (the CSO later premiered his first choral work, the oratorio, “The Light in the Wilderness"); a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Congressional Record tribute when he opened the first Duke Ellington Festival in Washington, D.C.; and the world premiere of his most recent choral work, “The Commandments," at New York's Lincoln Center.
Prior to sailing for Europe, Brubeck put the finishing touches on two new compositions. “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, a Democrat or a Republican," is a choral fugue which contrasts the McCarthy era with the present. At the invitation of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, he also wrote a Credo which will be inserted into Mozart's unfinished Grand Mass in C minor when the Ensemble celebrates Mozart's 250th birthday in 2006.
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ABOUT DAVE BRUBECK:
Composer and pianist Dave Brubeck was born December 6, 1920 in Concord, CA, the youngest of three sons, all musicians, of Howard “Pete" Brubeck, a cattle rancher, and Elizabeth Ivey Brubeck, a pianist and teacher. Dave began playing professionally in his teens and has been a major figure in contemporary jazz since his Bay Area nightclub dates in the late 1940s. He has been named an American Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts and was awarded a National Medal for the Arts by President Bill Clinton. He holds a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. In November 2004, in recognition of his body of sacred choral music, the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, awarded him an honorary doctorate in sacred theology, making him the first composer in any genre of music to be so honored.
Following graduation from University of the Pacific in 1942 and four years of Army service during World War II, Brubeck studied with the eminent French composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, and formed an Octet, a Trio and a Quartet which performed in various Bay Area jazz clubs. From 1951-1967 he led the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring the late Paul Desmond, became the first modern jazz musician on the cover of TIME Magazine (1954), and recorded the best-selling jazz single of all time, Desmond's “Take Five," in 1960. He also became one of America's foremost musical ambassadors -- a role he continues today -- performing under State Department auspices in countries which had previously never heard American jazz musicians live, and incorporating musical influences from those countries into his own writing.
In 1968, having launched his “second career" as an orchestral and choral composer with his oratorio “The Light in the Wilderness," premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Brubeck formed a second Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring the late Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone. The current DBQ includes Bobby Militello, alto sax and flute, who joined in 1982; Michael Moore, bass (since 2001); and Randy Jones, drums (since 1979). Dave Brubeck also appears periodically with sons Darius (keyboards), Chris (electric bass and trombone), Dan (drums) and Matthew (cello).
Dave Brubeck was a pioneer in taking jazz to college campuses; was one of the artists who launched the Monterey Jazz Festival; and has performed all over the world with his quartet and with numerous symphony orchestras and choruses. He has released more than 100 jazz albums and has written more than 400 original jazz songs. Since 1956, he has also been a pioneer in combining jazz improvisation with symphonic and choral music, beginning with his own “Elementals" and brother Howard's “Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra," performed and recorded by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. He has written more than 50 works for voice, from large-scale choral works to solo pieces, with various types of instrumental accompaniment, as well as ballets, string quartets, film and television scores, and the musical “The Real Ambassadors."
While maintaining a full schedule as a performer and composer, Dave now also serves as Chairman of the Brubeck Institute, http://www.brubeckinstitute.org, which he and his wife Iola established in 2001 at their alma mater, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA.
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Michael O'Daniel We Build Winners 1-323-957-1830 1-888-327-1401 [email protected]
DAVE BRUBECK BEGINS EUROPEAN TOUR NOVEMBER 16 WITH CONCERT COMMEMORATING NUREMBERG TRIALS; WILL CELEBRATE 85th BIRTHDAY WITH LONDON SYMPHONY
NUREMBERG, GERMANY: Legendary composer and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and his Quartet begin a fall tour of Europe November 16 with a concert at Nuremberg, Germany's Schauspielhaus, presented by the City of Nuremberg as part of its 60th anniversary commemoration of the Nuremberg Trials.
During the tour Brubeck will celebrate his 85th birthday on December 6 in the first of two dates with the London Symphony Orchestra, with which he has frequently performed and recorded.
Brubeck was stationed in Nuremberg in 1945 with General George S. Patton's Third Army. While he did not attend the Trials, his band The Wolf Pack -- the first integrated band in the military -- was part of a USO show that reopened the Nuremberg Opera House on July 1, 1945. Prior to that, the Opera House had served as The Wolf Pack's rehearsal facility after U.S. troops had occupied the city.
“One of my most vivid memories of that period is sitting in the audience for the first post-war performance of 'Hansel and Gretel' at the Nuremberg Opera House, along with hundreds of excited German children and some parents," recalls Brubeck. “There was so much joy, and a feeling of returning to normalcy. I think of those days each time I come to Nuremburg and have the privilege of returning to that beautiful stage."
Dr. Ulrich Maly, Nuremberg's Lord Mayor, invited Brubeck to participate in the City's commemoration of the Trials after hearing Brubeck's 2004 solo piano CD on Telarc, “Private Brubeck Remembers." The CD is a collection of World War II-era standards plus the Brubeck originals “We Crossed the Rhine" and “Weep No More," written for his wife Iola. On a limited-edition companion CD, Brubeck is interviewed by former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite and reminisces about his World War II days and his stay in Nuremberg.
Dr. Hans Hesselmann, director of the City of Nuremberg's Office of Human Rights, noted that Brubeck's fight for tolerance, peace and the recognition of human rights throughout his career was an important factor in the City's decision to invite him.
The Brubeck Quartet -- Bobby Militello, alto sax and flute, Michael Moore, bass, and Randy Jones, drums -- will play 16 dates in Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, and the UK, six of them with symphony or chamber orchestra. (In addition to his extensive catalogue of jazz originals, many of which have become standards, Brubeck has written more than 50 works for orchestra, chorus, solo voice, string quartet, ballet, or the musical theatre.)
Tour cities in addition to Nuremberg and London include Hoersching, Villach, Vienna and Kapfenburg, Austria; Barcelona, Spain; Warsaw, Poland; Lausanne, Bern, Basel and Zurich, Switzerland; and Munich, Dusseldorf, and Ludwigshafen, Germany.
On December 6, the London Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Russell Gloyd will present an all-Brubeck program including the premiere of a birthday tribute by Darius Brubeck. Four Brubeck sons will join in the program: Darius (keyboards), Chris (electric bass and trombone), Dan (drums) and Matthew (cello).
On December 17, the London Symphony and Chorus along with the St. Luke's Children's Chorus will perform Brubeck's Christmas cantata, “La Fiesta de la Posada," in which he will be joined once again by his sons. This program will be repeated in December 19 in Munich and December 20 in Ludwigshafen, Germany, with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Madrigalchor der Hochschule fur Musik und Theater of Munich.
Along with his 85th birthday, the year 2005 has contained numerous other milestones for Brubeck, including a 50th anniversary appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, where he was joined by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; a concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra observing the 40th anniversary of his debut with that orchestra (the CSO later premiered his first choral work, the oratorio, “The Light in the Wilderness"); a Lifetime Achievement Award and a Congressional Record tribute when he opened the first Duke Ellington Festival in Washington, D.C.; and the world premiere of his most recent choral work, “The Commandments," at New York's Lincoln Center.
Prior to sailing for Europe, Brubeck put the finishing touches on two new compositions. “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, a Democrat or a Republican," is a choral fugue which contrasts the McCarthy era with the present. At the invitation of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, he also wrote a Credo which will be inserted into Mozart's unfinished Grand Mass in C minor when the Ensemble celebrates Mozart's 250th birthday in 2006.
-30-
ABOUT DAVE BRUBECK:
Composer and pianist Dave Brubeck was born December 6, 1920 in Concord, CA, the youngest of three sons, all musicians, of Howard “Pete" Brubeck, a cattle rancher, and Elizabeth Ivey Brubeck, a pianist and teacher. Dave began playing professionally in his teens and has been a major figure in contemporary jazz since his Bay Area nightclub dates in the late 1940s. He has been named an American Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts and was awarded a National Medal for the Arts by President Bill Clinton. He holds a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. In November 2004, in recognition of his body of sacred choral music, the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, awarded him an honorary doctorate in sacred theology, making him the first composer in any genre of music to be so honored.
Following graduation from University of the Pacific in 1942 and four years of Army service during World War II, Brubeck studied with the eminent French composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, and formed an Octet, a Trio and a Quartet which performed in various Bay Area jazz clubs. From 1951-1967 he led the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring the late Paul Desmond, became the first modern jazz musician on the cover of TIME Magazine (1954), and recorded the best-selling jazz single of all time, Desmond's “Take Five," in 1960. He also became one of America's foremost musical ambassadors -- a role he continues today -- performing under State Department auspices in countries which had previously never heard American jazz musicians live, and incorporating musical influences from those countries into his own writing.
In 1968, having launched his “second career" as an orchestral and choral composer with his oratorio “The Light in the Wilderness," premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Brubeck formed a second Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring the late Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone. The current DBQ includes Bobby Militello, alto sax and flute, who joined in 1982; Michael Moore, bass (since 2001); and Randy Jones, drums (since 1979). Dave Brubeck also appears periodically with sons Darius (keyboards), Chris (electric bass and trombone), Dan (drums) and Matthew (cello).
Dave Brubeck was a pioneer in taking jazz to college campuses; was one of the artists who launched the Monterey Jazz Festival; and has performed all over the world with his quartet and with numerous symphony orchestras and choruses. He has released more than 100 jazz albums and has written more than 400 original jazz songs. Since 1956, he has also been a pioneer in combining jazz improvisation with symphonic and choral music, beginning with his own “Elementals" and brother Howard's “Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra," performed and recorded by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. He has written more than 50 works for voice, from large-scale choral works to solo pieces, with various types of instrumental accompaniment, as well as ballets, string quartets, film and television scores, and the musical “The Real Ambassadors."
While maintaining a full schedule as a performer and composer, Dave now also serves as Chairman of the Brubeck Institute, http://www.brubeckinstitute.org, which he and his wife Iola established in 2001 at their alma mater, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA.
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