Exactly 100 years ago today Dave Brubeck was born (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012).
I translated some passages of a
German article into Google English which could be interesting because of its Eastern Europe perspective:
Quote:
100 years of Dave Brubeck
“Mr. Cool“, the jazz diplomat
"Take Five" is probably the greatest jazz hit of all time. Less known are Dave Brubeck's tours in the Eastern Bloc and his engagement in the USA - but the pianist and composer never let himself be captured.
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He was my idol, happily I told the still young-looking man, as I had heard him on the radio at AFN and Voice of America in the 1950s as a schoolboy in East Berlin.
At that time Brubeck went on tours to Poland and the Soviet Union. At a time when jazz musicians thrilled the masses like rock and pop stars do today, his performances were of enormous importance to young people. "The Russian fans all sounded like Willis Connover when they spoke English," recalled Brubeck with a smile. Connover moderated the jazz programs of the "Voice of America".
[...]
Jazz ambassador in the Cold War
During the Cold War, Brubeck was a "weapon" in the cultural competition between systems. The Communist USSR sent the Bolshoi Ballet to America; the capitalist United States countered with jazz greats. The US State Department financed guest performances by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in countries of the Eastern Bloc and the Third World. Jazz promoters for America!
What the musicians meant as ambassadors for their country, a cartoon in 1958 in the magazine "New Yorker" summed up. At a White House session on "an extremely delicate mission," one participant asks, "Should we send John Foster Dulles or Satchmo?"
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Early forms of cancel culture
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Quote:
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Racial segregation was not acceptable to him. Whenever the promoter or television station asked him to replace his black bassist Eugene Wright, the concerts were canceled. And jazz musicians used their assignments abroad to apply pressure at home. In 1957, Louis Armstrong refused to travel to the Soviet Union when black children in Little Rock, Arkansas were refused entry to school.
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PS: In order to make this a nice thread it would be good when future posters write something personal about the person they mention, a personal reference. Or some information as I did.
It is surely interesting to read something about what other people have to say about certain stars of the music business.
I see this thread as a general birthday thread for all musicians you like to mention. It is always nice to learn something new about former glorious times.