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The Dave Brubeck Quartet was a jazz group founded in 1951 by American jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, with Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. Early drummers for the group were Lloyd Davis and Joe Dodge, while early bassists included Ron Crotty, Bob Bates, and his brother Norman Bates. The quartet took up a long residency at San Francisco's Black Hawk nightclub and gained popularity touring college campuses, recording a series of live albums such as 1953's Jazz at Oberlin and Jazz at the College of the Pacific and 1954's Jazz Goes to College. The latter album was also Brubeck's Columbia Records debut, following his departure from Fantasy Records when they denied him a half interest in the company[1]. In 1956, Brubeck hired drummer Joe Morello, who made possible the quartet's future rhythmic experiements. In 1958, African-American bassist Eugene Wright participated in the group's U.S. Department of State tour of Europe and Asia[2]; one year later he became a permanent member, completing the Quartet's "classic" lineup. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Brubeck canceled several concerts because the club owners or hall managers resisted the idea of a racially integrated band on their stages. He also canceled a television appearance when he learned the producers intended to keep Wright off-camera[3]. In 1956, the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded Time Out, an album Columbia Records was enthusiastic about but hesitant to release almost none of its songs were in common time. inspired by Eurasian folk music they experienced during their 1958 Department of State sponsored tour, the quartet used 9/8, 5/4, 3/4, and 6/4 time signatures. Nonetheless, on the strength of these time signatures in songs such as "Take Five", "Blue Rondo à la Turk", and "Three to Get Ready", Time Out became the first jazz album to be certified Platinum[4]. Read more here... References
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Dave Brubeck Quartet
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