Dave Brubeck consists of David Warren.
David Warren (Dave) Brubeck (born December 6, 1920 in Concord, California) is an American jazz pianist who has written a number of jazz standards, including In Your Own Sweet Way and The Duke. Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. Much of his music employs unusual time signatures.
His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote what is arguably the quartet's most famous piece, Take Five (which is in 5/4 time). Brubeck experimented with time signatures through much of his career, recording Pick Up Sticks in 6/4, Unsquare Dance in 7/4, and Blue Rondo A La Turk in 9/8, an experimentation begun with his attempts to put music to the odd rhythms generated by various machines around him on his parents' cattle ranch in a small town in the western United States. The title of Blue Rondo A La Turk is a play on Mozart's Rondo alla Turca: Allegretto from his Piano Sonata No. 11, and the 9/8 metre of traditional Turkish music, the country in which the band was touring when the tune was written.
Brubeck's mother studied piano in England and intended to become a concert pianist; at home she taught piano for extra money. Brubeck was not particularly interested in learning by any particular method, but preferred to create his own melodies, and therefore avoided learning to read sheet music. In college Brubeck was nearly expelled when one of his professors discovered that he could not read sheet music. Several of his professors came forward arguing for his ability with counterpoint and harmony, but the school was still afraid that it would cause a scandal, and only agreed to let Brubeck graduate once he promised never to teach piano.
