Donald Donald JD Allen JD Harrison Transcription Blindfold Test Blindfold José James Ravi ColtraneRavi Gary Clark Jr. /// ECK £3.50 £3.50 B .K. U A Celebration BRU DAV E 150 Great Jazz Great Venues 150 DOWNBEAT.COM FEBRUARY 2013 DOWNBEAT DAVE BRUBECK /// GARY CLARK JR. /// JD ALLEN /// JOSÉ JAMES /// JAZZ VENUE GUIDE FEBRUARY 2013 FEBRUARY 2013 VOLUME 80 / NUMBER 2 President Kevin Maher Publisher Frank Alkyer Managing Editor Bobby Reed News Editor Hilary Brown Reviews Editor Aaron Cohen Contributing Editor Ed Enright Art Director Ara Tirado Production Associate Andy Williams Bookkeeper Margaret Stevens Circulation Manager Sue Mahal Circulation Assistant Evelyn Oakes ADVERTISING SALES Record Companies & Schools Jennifer Ruban-Gentile 630-941-2030 [email protected] Musical Instruments & East Coast Schools Ritche Deraney 201-445-6260 [email protected] Advertising Sales Associate Maggie Glovatski Cuprisin 630-941-2030 [email protected] OFFICES 102 N. 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Box 11688, St. Paul, MN 55111–0688. CABLE ADDRESS: DownBeat (on sale January 22, 2013) Magazine Publishers Association. Á FEBRUARY 2013 The great ON THE COVER Dave Brubeck (1920–2012) 26 The Amazing Life and Times of Dave Brubeck BY JOHN MCDONOUGH DownBeat pays tribute to the late pianist and composer, who achieved major stardom in the 1950s and held his headliner rank well into the 21st century. Because longevity alone doesn’t guarantee an audience, this 26 makes him unique in the jazz world. Brubeck—whose 1959 quartet recording Time Out was the first million-selling jazz album—may have been the last jazz musician in the world whom everybody knew and liked. Cover photo and image above: DownBeat archives FEATURES 34 Gary Clark Jr. ‘I’m Not Scared of the Blues Police’ BY SHAUN BRADY 38 JD Allen 71 Naked Truth 73 Avishai Cohen 77 Living By Lanterns 82 Eric Person The Matador BY ALLEN MORRISON 44 José James DEPARTMENTS Genuine Expression BY MICHAEL J. WEST 10 First Take 22 Players 88 Transcription Laurence Hobgood SPECIAL SECTION 12 Chords & Magnus Lindgren 90 Toolshed Discords Armand Sabal-Lecco 94 Jazz On Campus 49 150 Great Caroline Davis Jazz Venues 15 The Beat 98 Blindfold Test 67 Reviews Donald Harrison The Best Places to 16 Riffs Hear Live Jazz 86 Master Class Worldwide 18 The Insider By Eric DiVito 6 DOWNBEAT FEBRUARY 2013 First Take BY MICHAEL BOURNE Five Takes of Dave ou don’t always recognize a turning point in your life—espe- cially not in the moment when you actually turn. I would have lived the last 50 years quite differently if not for Dave Brubeck. YTwo guys in my high school chemistry class were always excitedly talking about jazz. I’d never actually heard any jazz, so I finally asked, “What jazz record should I get?” One of them said, “Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet!” Brubeck at I bought the vinyl LP at an home on Memorial A&P grocery store. The opening Day 2003 track, “Blue Rondo À La Turk,” was thrilling, a musical whirli- gig. And then came “Strange Meadowlark.” Brubeck’s piano prelude sounded like impres- sionistic piano classics of Ravel or Debussy. I was already enrap- tured when the alto sax of Paul Desmond swooped in. I picked up the needle and again played Desmond’s lovely lyrical breeze. I was drowning in the delight of Brubeck’s music. And I hadn’t even heard the third track, the JIMMY KATZ immortal “Take Five.” The next day I went back to the A&P and bought Brubeck’s Countdown: Time In Outer Space. I started listening to jazz obsessively. I began writing about jazz, starting in 1969 with pieces for DownBeat. While pursuing a doctorate degree in theater at Indiana University, the school’s classical radio station asked me to fill in as a jazz DJ. The first record I played on WFIU? “Strange Meadowlark.” Instead of becoming a professor, I kept playing jazz on the radio. Jazz became my vocation, now going on 30 years broadcasting from Newark, N.J. First record I played on WBGO? “Strange Meadowlark.” I have so many memories of Dave. I spent Memorial Day 2003 with him at his house in Connecticut. Sitting at his piano, Dave played as he reminisced about growing up as a cowboy on his father’s cattle ranch in California. He played music he’d composed to the rhythms of his horse’s hooves. Music had saved his life, he said. During World War II, instead of likely being killed with Gen. Patton’s troops, the day before the fight- ing he was asked to play piano in an Army band. He played for me tunes inspired by truck wheels rolling on pontoon bridges across the Rhine. Just as a painter sees the world in lines and images, Dave heard the world as melodies. Most memorable that day, Dave played for me “Strange Meadowlark,” and my life came blissfully full circle. When the DBQ celebrated the 50th anniversary of Time Out in 2009 at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Dave reminisced with me for a broadcast. What surprised me most was that he had never played “Pick Up Sticks” (on the LP’s second side) since the recording session. I loved watching him play. Even in his latter years, when walking across the stage was often arduous, once he sat down at the piano, all the pain and years fell away. Dave always looked to me like a child first plinking at the keys. He’d play and then laugh in joyful amazement. One of the coolest things Dave ever said was in response to a concert review that alleged he had played some wrong notes: “If I make mis- takes, it’s because I tried something that didn’t work. I’d rather make mistakes than play safe, than play the same solos every night.” And the best life lesson I learned from Dave Brubeck came in a mes- sage he sent me after I’d undergone heart surgery: “From one triple bypasser to another: Always do what you love … quickly!” DB Chords Discords Jazz Cowboy Dave Brubeck was one of my all-time heroes. As a kid, I played his LP We’re All Together Again For The First Time so often that I had to buy a fresh copy due to all the scratches that accumulated on the vinyl. Dave was a fearless improviser and innovator willing to experi- ment with huge chords, pounding rhythms and unusual time signatures. He was also a decent human being. His pioneering efforts with jazz worship inspired me to pursue the same. Plus, because I’m a horseman, it also mattered to me that a jazz musician could grow up on a ranch. Thank you, Mr. Brubeck, for your continued inspiration. TEIN S BRADLEY SOWASH [email protected] Editor’s Note: Thanks for sharing your IC ENTERTAINMENT/DON HUN IC ENTERTAINMENT/DON personal reflections on Dave Brubeck. Please S see the First Take essay (page 10) and the Dave Brubeck SONY MU cover story (page 26) for our celebration of an artist whose music will live on for centuries. ers Poll, December). Perhaps somebody who voted for them could enlighten me.