Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck (1920–2012), pianist-composer and bandleader, brought cool elegance and audacious odd metres to mainstream jazz. With the classic quartet (Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright, Joe Morello) he made Time Out (1959), featuring “Blue Rondo à la Turk” and the hit “Take Five.” A civil-rights advocate, he insisted on integrated bands and toured worldwide as a jazz ambassador.