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Dave Brubeck’s Birthday

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Today is Dave Brubeck’s birthday – he’s 91 years old.

The jazz man was born in California and raised by a cattle rancher and a music teacher. I think if him as a thoroughly American musician – dedicated to freedom of expression, but willing and able to please the audience. Just the right combination of inventiveness and show business.

Here he is in a perfectly ’60’s-type setting (the year was 1961) performing with the quartet on Paul Desmond’s “Take Five”.

http://youtu.be/BwNrmYRiX_o

There was a moment in 1951 when we could have lost Dave Brubeck and all he brought to our culture. This is from a PBS website devoted to Brubeck and his music:

While working a gig in Hawaii, Dave had a swimming accident and nearly broke his neck. “I was swimming with my kids on Waikiki Beach and my last famous words were, ‘watch daddy,'” Brubeck recalled. “And I dove into a wave and there was a sandbar right in front of me. And rather than hit it with my face, I turned my head and it almost broke my neck, and I thought I was gonna be paralyzed. I had to go to the Army hospital and stayed there for twenty-one days in traction and they were able to pull my neck back.” While lying in traction at a local hospital, he lost his job and his trio.

I’m both amused and horrified at this: “… my famous last words were ‘watch daddy.'” Ooof. How many pour unfortunates have gone to the great beyond with that exact set up? And what sort of person would you become if you had actually watched your daddy dive into the afterlife while showing off for you at the beach. I’m so grateful Dave Brubeck survived, but it does make me wonder.

What tricks can you do to impress the kids? And would you want to leave the world doing that particular thing?

60 thoughts on “Dave Brubeck’s Birthday”

  1. Had the pleasure of seeing him at the 2007 Detroit Jazz Festival and he always has a story. Had the crowd roaring, then his muse had us roaring even louder. Have some great pictures on this blog of him and Gerald Wilson who is 93 and also going strong.

    DOWNTOWN DETROIT! IT’S JAZZ FEST TIME. AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY GERALD WILSON!!! HERE’S TO MANY MANY MORE!

    We are beyond blessed to have them both still with us. Happy B-Day Mr. Brubeck and many many more! Come back to Detroit in 2012!

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    1. Welcome, and thanks for posting, Longshot. And a very Happy Birthday, Mr. Brubeck.
      I’m going to try get in on that action next year. Sounds like a great time to visit Detroit.

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    2. The soundtrack to the top slide show is wonderful. Who are the guys in the white jackets toward the end?

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    3. I have been to the Detroit Jazz Festival. It was many years ago when I had just entered college and was a devoted Jazz fan. It was held in a big indoor sports arena and I sat a long way from the stage. I think they had a good line up of bands. The only one I remember was the Count Basie Band which was a special treat for me. I have not heard Brubeck at a live show, but have enjoyed seeing him on TV and listening to his recordings.

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      1. Jim,
        The Detroit International Jazz Festival started 1980. In 1991 ( where it was held at prior to 91′? ) it merged with Detroit’s Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts and was held there until 2005. Since, it’s been along the Riverfront ( Hart Plaza 3 stages ) and up to Woodward ( another 3 stages ). Jazz, Bar-B-Que and the Water. You can’t beat it. I always pray for it to stay warm into the nights those 4 days. All of you would love it and it would definitely change your mind about Detroit. Not everything is some hell pit here 24/7. Festivals of all sorts are going on all summer here in different venues. In February we have a Winter Blast ( Camp Martius/Mi. Ave & Woodward ) and the bands play in warmed beyond huge tents. Food, Rock, Blues and more Jazz.

        Sadly the neighborhoods are war zones, but Downtown Rocks. Hopefully one day the whole city will get right.

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    1. St. Nicholas left our daughter some chocolate gelt in her shoes along with a new pair of yoga pants. How did he know what she wanted? He is truly amazing.

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  3. It’s uncharacteristically quiet on the trail this morning! I suspect that it might be because other baboons are having as much trouble as I am, thinking of something we can do that would impress anybody, let alone a kid. Speaking for myself, I draw a complete blank. Nada! Zilch! Nothing! That said, I HAVE done some spectacularly stupid things that could have permanently impaired, even killed, me. Just lucky, I guess, that they didn’t.

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  4. Thanks to both of you.

    Plainjane, Detroit has one of the best 4 day labor day Jazz Festivals in this world, but most wouldn’t know it. All we get is bad press all the time. And it’s a FREE FESTIVAL. With 6 different stages set up between Camp Martius ( Woodward ) and Hart Plaza. Best artists we can get every year. You will Love it. The rain helped to ruin some of 2011’s, but in 2010 we celebrated Gerald Wilson’s 92nd B-Day. The main stage the last night was on fire with Gerald, The Manhattan Transfer, The Wayne County Jazz Orchestra and other artists who performed on other stages joined them. It was a Jam Off to remember.

    Motor City Jazz Jam Blowout. THANK YOU DETROIT!

    And that was Detroit’s “The Contours” in the white jackets. I saw them on the first night ( Friday ) at the Chase Stage at Camp Martius. It’s the only stage going the first night.

    Like I said 6 stages, 4 days and nights. ALL FREE.

    Detroit deserves some good press for this yearly venue. We smoke for a good reason at this Jazz Fest.

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    1. Welcome, Longshot! You can’t beat a free festival! Rock Bend Folk Festival is the weekend after Labor Day and has been *FREE-FREE-FREE!* for 21 years! PJ, you could go to Detroit for Labor Day weekend and come to St. Peter for Rock Bend the next weekend.

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  5. And BTW I was sitting behind whoever shot that last set that night. I waited a while hoping for somebody to post it if it was filmed. When it did get posted I said OMG I was right behind this person. Don’t matter I was there there LIVE to witness it and it was absolutely awesome!

    I’m off to bed, Enjoy.

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  6. Welcome, Longshot! Your contributions have already enhanced our blog. I’ll bet it is frustrating getting nothing but negative publicity on your home town.

    Sometimes I wish President Obabma would say something like, “Y’know, fixing America’s problems is quite a challenge. Let’s bring the problem down to scale. During the next four years, I’d like to do everything possible to make Detroit a great city again. After that, we can think about doing it again in other cities.” If I were working on that project, music festivals would be high on my list.

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    1. There is no politician that can stop people from murdering each other. The citizens themselves must step up to that plate and a lot here are trying. But there are others that make life hell for everyone unfortunately. The only thing that can fix all of Detroit is Detroit. But every year at that Jazz Fest I say, now where is the media?

      And the answer is nowhere to be found when we have 4 days and nights of pure raw talent and bliss and everybody attending from every walk of life is there attending and enjoying. No one will ever hear one word of good about it and that is more than sad.

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  7. Greetings! I don’t try to impress the kids — although I admit doing karate and keeping up with them in strenuous classes is my way of showing off. My only way of impressing them is making a real supper for them to sit down to eat — which doesn’t happen all the time.

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  8. Good morning to all. I know a few tricks to do for kids such as “I’ve got your nose” and ‘peek-a-boo”. A trick I once did was showing the kids that I could eat a cooked cabbage worm that I found in the broccoli I was eating for dinner. One of my daughters stopped eating broccoli for a while after that. She probably thought she would get sick and die if she ate some broccoli with a worm in it. I didn’t get sick. I am not one to do anything that is dangerous and I knew that that worm was okay to eat.

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  9. yes, indeed – happy birthday, Mr. Brubeck. about 38 years ago, he and his sons made an appearance at the U – probably Northrup – i was a denizen of Scott Hall at that time, and the afternoon of their concert, Dave and his sons just jammed in the little auditorium in Scott. i luckily stumbled into this impromptu session – what a divine treat! great music, great humor.

    i’ve never been good at amazing kids – we don’t have children, and my goat kids amaze me. like yesterday, climbing up to the top of the bale stack – SEVEN HIGH – and dancing around. so i, necessarily, was up there also, but not as nimbly.
    happy day to you all, and welcome to Longshot.

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  10. Today would also be a great day to track down the David Sedaris story “Six to Eight Black Men” , a wonderful story about St. Nicholas, along with other wild topics.

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  11. We came out of “The Lion King” and did a conga dance across the parking lot as more cars were coming in for the next movie showing. I’m not sure I was what one would refer to as ‘impressive,’ but I was happy to look silly for my young niece and nephew.
    I bow down to the joy Dave Brubeck has brought to the world! Happy Birthday!

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  12. I love messing with kids in that 2 to 5 year old bracket. Their minds are open to magic and they aren’t cynical.

    Many tricks just present themselves. I had a Christmas tree rigged to go on with a switch. I used to sit there on the switch while my young nephew used his breath to blow the lights on and off. Great fun.

    A favorite trick is pulling coins or candy out of kids’ ears. It is so simple, and the real trick is to maintain the right patter to make it entertaining. I especially like pulling Twizzlers out of kids’ ears. It hides so well in a long sleeved shirt, and as you pull the Twizzler out you can drag it along the kid’s ear in a way that increases the effect.

    I can make my hand turn into an animal that looks a bit like a horse with a brontosaurus neck. My animal has a limited range of tricks, but I was practicing this morning getting him to strain on the toilet, finally pooping out a quarter.

    The stunts are endless, really. All you need is a sense of goofiness and a love of kids.

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    1. Yep; I agree with this.
      I’m lucky in that I have some fancy ‘toys’ to impress the kids. Just a couple weeks ago I was giving a kid a tour of the light booth and I let him make smoke come out of the floor.

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  13. Rise and shine baboons!

    Does anyone on the trail use an iPad? I cannot get a comment box from the iPad. Am M doing this from phone.Help

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    1. Where are the geeks when you need them? Sorry, Jacque, I’ve got a MacBook Air, not close enough to be of any help.

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    2. I’m guessing it may be somehow related to the iPad’s dislike of Flash-based technology?…though that’s just a guess. I would hope that WordPress is smarter than that. Might be that there is something turned off on your iPad’s browser that WordPress needs (like JavaScript or something completely mundane like that).

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      2. Jacque, I don’t know how old you are, but if I tried to impress my kids with any technological knowledge, they would laugh in my face. But, if you can do it, more power to you!

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  14. Morning all! This might have been an easier question a few years ago. As Steve says, when they’re younger, it’s not so hard to impress them. The teenager is not impressed by ANYTHING that I do these days – although I did get a “thank you” last night when I went downstairs in my jammies to fetch her some juice while she did homework. I know it’s small, but I take anything I can get these days!

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  15. I don’t think I have ever impressed my kids ever. MAYBE when they were quite small, but I don’t remember what it was that I did and that time has long passed. Lately the closest thing I can do to impressing them is make a knockout dessert.

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  16. Impressive tricks? I got nothin’ really. Willingness to be totally silly and make an idiot of myself? Sure – but that’s not a trick, that’s just no sense of self-preservation. Daughter still asks when I’m going to wear a tutu and cowboy had to present to her class again at school (Copeland’s “Rodeo” was the topic). Or could I please dance like a troll again (“In the Hall of the Mountain King”)? Or perhaps even playing the trombone (brass instruments), which made the dog howl…so far this year all I’ve managed is getting her class to dance to the “Impressionists Two-Step” for an art presentation. But the year is still young and there is John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” on the docket for the music curriculum this year…

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      1. Renee, I think you would have enjoyed the sailors’ butts in the Guthrie’s production of H.M.S. Pinafore. Eye candy, for sure.

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  17. Juggling, but not with oranges or balls like Husband… small solid-colored scarves. We had them for staff retreats at the “business consultants” job. Since they float, you have time to react and do it. Plus it looks beautiful!

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  18. OT: If anyone knows of an art department looking for a director of graphic design, our neighbor just lost his job (this would be Lola’s dad). 😦

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    2. Oh dear…that has been a very hard hit field in the last few years. Will keep an ear to the ground. I have heard that, in general, Thomson Reuters (formerly West Publishing) has been doing a lot of hiring lately, but not sure what departments…

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  19. No kids and no tricks – sorry! I don’t think the kids I know find me very impressive. I’m satisfied when my niece snuggles up next to me to watch the dogs rough-housing. I know she’s impressed with my dog – that’s enough for me.

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  20. OT -Can anyone tell me in which blog all the baboon birthdays were listed? I neglected to transfer them, at the time, to a place where I might actually see them.

    Just got my first Christmas card in the mail….from an extremely organized baboon. Thanks.

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  21. Rise and Shine Baboons:

    My posts will be late for a few days until I figure out what is going on. I’m tired of lugging my laptop home, so I will post when I get to work. New technology can be so frustrating!

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  22. I’m glad I was able to post the comments I did to this blog because for some odd reason it looks like WordPress had black listed me and I’m totally puzzled. Last blog I wrote on Wednesday got posted at WordPress under Music & Entertainment and showed up on those pages and on other pages underneath their respectful tags. But Thursday & Fridays Blogs it is nowhere to be found. Very upsetting to me since I have absolutely no clue as to what’s going on. I contacted WordPress via site and email but no explanation or response has came from them. Anything I attempt to post to the forums is immediately removed. I’ve changed no setting on my blog and certainly have done nothing wrong.

    But all of a sudden it’s like I’ve been black listed for some reason so whatever I write or post will not appear. I don’t get it? And WordPress won’t contact me and explain. I don’t even know if this will be seen by any of you. It seems all of a sudden I’ve just been forbidden to post anything to be seen????

    If I sign in I see my own comments but wondering is anybody else able to see them now. If somebody here responds I guess you’ve seen the comment, if not I guess you can’t. Very puzzled and upset.

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