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Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Dave and Iola Brubeck A LONG PARTNERSHIP IN LIFE AND MUSIC With introductions by Caroline C. Crawford and J. B. Dyas An Interview Conducted by Caroline C. Crawford in 1999 and 2001 Copyright © 2006 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Dave and Iola Brubeck, dated September 30, 1999. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Dave Brubeck, “A Long Partnership in Life and Music,” an oral history conducted in 1999 and 2001 by Caroline C. Crawford, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006. Copy no. ______ Dave Brubeck, circa 2005. Photo courtesy Dave and Iola Brubeck. TABLE OF CONTENTS -- Dave and Iola Brubeck PREFACE i INTRODUCTION by J. B. Dyas ii INTRODUCTION by Caroline C. Crawford iv I. GROWING UP IN CALIFORNIA 1 Interview 1: February 15, 1999 1920s and 1930s History of the Whitlock and the Brubeck families, pastimes, traditions, celebrations Lewis Warren Brubeck, a hotel in Amedee and cattle ranches in Concord and Ione Bessie Ivey Brubeck and Howard “Pete” Brubeck, meeting, courtship and marriage Landmarks of childhood Developing interests in music and ranching Henry and Howard Brubeck Remembering ranch life II. EAST COAST VS WEST COAST JAZZ 18 Studying and meeting at College of the Pacific Marriage, 1942, and serving in the U.S. Army, 1942-1944 Thoughts about composing and impressions of Arnold Schoenberg and Darius Milhaud Heading a military band overseas in Patton’s army, 1944-1946 Iola’s radio career, Kate and The Red Ryder Show III. MUSIC STUDIES AT MILLS COLLEGE WITH DARIUS MILHAUD 30 The jazz workshop, the octet and Dave Brubeck’s first recital at Mills The trio and first “house band” at the Blackhawk Club in San Francisco Teaching together at the University of California, Berkeley First professional recordings and launching of Fantasy Records Thoughts about recording IV. FORMING THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET, 1951 48 Interview 2: February 17, 1999 Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Roger Nichols, Herb Barman Pioneering together in college tours Segregation in the jazz clubs At home in Connecticut Thoughts about composing “Unsquare Dance,” “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” “Song of the Thank Yous,” “Audrey” The Classic Quartet of Brubeck, Desmond, Eugene Wright, Joe Morello as a “beautiful marriage” Breakup of the quartet V. A NEW FOCUS ON LITURGICAL AND LARGE-SCALE WORKS 61 Iola Brubecks’s work as librettist, and choice of texts Elementals, 1963 The Real Ambassadors with Louis Armstrong, 1962 Truth is Fallen, 1971, To Hope!, 1980, collaborating with the Murray Lewis Dance Company Fiesta de la Posada, 1975 The Gates of Justice, 1969 The Light in the Wilderness, 1968 Writing for the Pope, 1987 Pange Lingua Variations, 1985 Hold Fast to Dreams The Brubeck Institute at UOP The Brubeck family and an eightieth birthday celebration with the London Symphony Orchestra The Earth is Our Mother, 1992 Awards and tributes, from the U.S. President to Willie “The Lion” Smith VI. ON THE ROAD WITH MANAGER RUSSELL GLOYD SINCE 1976 89 Interview 3: September 21, 2001 The Brubecks in Europe La Fiesta de la Posada in Vienna’s Konzerthaus, 1995 The Maria Callas Suite in Milan The world premiere of To Hope!, Remembering performances in Munich, Berlin and London Handling crises The Brubeck sons join the quartet Personnel changes and quartet chemistry Iola’s thoughts about the in-family quartet Dealing with the media: Time and New Yorker magazines, Hedrick Smith and Ken Burns Music and 9/11 TAPE GUIDE Interview 1: February 15, 1999 Tape 1, Side A 1 Tape 1, Side B 9 Tape 2, Side A 16 Tape 2, Side B 27 Tape 3, Side A 35 Tape 3, Side B 42 Interview 2: February 17, 1999 Tape 4, Side A 48 Tape 4, Side B 55 Tape 5, Side A 63 Tape 5, Side B 69 Tape 6, Side A 76 Tape 6, Side B 83 Interview 3: September 21, 2001 Tape 7, Side A 89 Tape 7, Side B 99 Tape 8, Side A 108 Tape 8, Side B 114 i PREFACE The American Composers series of oral histories, a project of the Regional Oral History Office, was initiated in 1998 to document the lives and careers of a number of contemporary composers with significant California connections, the composers chosen to represent a cross-section of musical philosophies, cultural backgrounds and education. The twentieth century in this country produced an extraordinary disparity of musical styles and languages, and with those controversy and even alienation between composers and audiences, as composers sought to find a path between contemporary and traditional musical languages: serialism, minimalism, neoclassicism, and back to some extent to neoromanticism in the last decades. The battle of styles was perhaps inevitable, as well as the reverse pendulum swing that has followed, but as the New York Times stated in a recent article, “the polemics on both sides were dismaying.” The composers were selected with the help of university of California faculty and musicians from the greater community and asked to discuss their musical philosophies, the development of their musical language, their processes of composing, ideas about the nineteenth-century European heritage, and experiences studying with such signal teachers as Nadia Boulanger, Roger Sessions, Arnold Schoenberg, Darius Milhaud, Luigi Dallapiccola and others, university associations (Andrew Imbrie) or orchestral ones (David Sheinfeld), and forays into fields as different as jazz (Dave Brubeck), electronic music (Pauline Oliveros), and blues (Jimmy McCracklin). Also interviewed as part of this series was David Harrington of Kronos Quartet, which has a remarkable record of commissioning new work over the last three decades. Various library collections served as research resources for the project, among them those of the UC Berkeley and UCLA Music Libraries, The Bancroft Library, and the Yale School of Music Library. Oral history techniques have rarely been applied in the field of music, the study of music having focused until now largely on structural and historical developments in the field. It is hoped that these oral histories, besides being vivid cultural portraits, will promote understanding of the composer's work, the musical climate in the times we live in, the range of choices the composer has and the obstacles he or she faces, the avenues for writing and exposure. Funding for the American Composers series of oral histories came in the form of a large grant from San Francisco art patroness Phyllis Wattis, to whom the Regional Oral History Office is greatly indebted. Mrs. Wattis has supported several other of the office's projects, including the histories of Kurt Herbert Adler and the San Francisco Opera and Milton Salkind and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The Regional Oral History Office was established in 1954 to tape record autobiographical interviews with persons who have contributed significantly to California history. The office is headed by Richard Cándida Smith and is under the administrative supervision of The Bancroft Library. Caroline C. Crawford Music Historian December 2005 Regional Oral History Office The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley ii INRODUCTION by J. B. Dyas When I was first offered the position of Executive Director of the newly established Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, Dave Brubeck’s alma mater, I realized that I really didn’t know that much about Dave Brubeck the man. Having been in jazz education and a professional musician for nearly three decades, I certainly was very familiar with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, had a dozen or so DBQ CDs, and had played “Take Five,” “The Duke,” and “In Your Own Sweet Way” on club dates countless times like so many jazz musicians. And I knew Dave was one of the first to bring jazz on college campuses and had been on the cover of Time magazine. He is one of the jazz giants; indeed, every jazz musician, student, and aficionado knows of his enormous contribution to contemporary music through his use of eccentric and multiple rhythms, irregular time signatures, extended harmonic language, and fusion of musical cultures.