Dave Brubeck

David Warren Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities, and combining different styles and genres, such as classical, jazz, and blues.

Born in Concord, California, Brubeck was drafted into the US Army, but was spared from combat service when a Red Cross show he had played at became a hit. Within the US Army, Brubeck formed one of the first racially diverse bands. In 1951, he formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which kept its name despite shifting personnel. The most successful and prolific lineup of the quartet was the one between 1958 and 1967. This lineup, in addition to Brubeck, featured saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello. A U.S. Department of State-sponsored tour in 1958 featuring the band inspired several of Brubeck's subsequent albums, most notably the 1959 album Time Out. Despite its esoteric theme and contrarian time signatures, Time Out became Brubeck's highest-selling album, and the first jazz album to sell over one million copies. The lead single from the album, "Take Five", a tune written by Desmond in 54 time, similarly became the highest-selling jazz single of all time. The quartet followed up Time Out with four other albums in nonstandard time signatures, and some of the other songs from this series became hits, as well, including "Blue Rondo à la Turk" (in 98) and "Unsquare Dance" (in 74). Brubeck continued releasing music until his death in 2012.