As many of you know, the great American composer and musician, Dave Brubeck, has passed away. Before we continued work on our Fairy Tale Performances, we took time to honor Mr. Brubeck’s talent and gifts.
We listened to Take 5 and talked about it’s beauty and innovation. We talked about and tried to feel the complexity of the unusual use 5/4 meter. How funny it feels, how off balance it makes us, but how it keeps our interest to follow the melody, wherever it goes. Take 5 was written Paul Desmond, the alto sax player in The Dave Brubeck Quartet (DBQ). It not only represents the character of the music played by the DBQ, it’s also an iconic piece of American music everyone should know.
