[chajin]

It was listening to Brubeck and Jimmy Smith that made me love jazz as a teenager. I only saw Brubeck live once, in 1972 when I was 18, with Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax. He lived as long as he did, in part because in 1944 he was pulled out of Patton's Third Army to play background piano for a Red Cross function in Paris. There he met Darius Milhaud, who had studied with Widor but who also loved American jazz, and for whom Dave named his son Darius. Darius Brubeck went to South Africa as apartheid was ending, and taught music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal for almost 20 years; one of his students was the singer Pamela (de Menezes) Myburgh of the girl-band duo The Arrows. Dave wrote the cantata “The Gates of Justice,” and today he went through those gates. I'm sure his Lord was able to take five and meet him.

[Quick Shot]

He played a concert in my high school in 1974 or 75. Our school had the best acoustics 2000 seat auditorium in the area. He was scheduled to play that night, and at the last minute added a couple hours during the day for the students. Was incredible, what a talent. That day they had fun. (also the place had an incredible smell of burning leaves all day).

When I play practice golf now always have him on in earphones. Helps as the rhythms keep changing.