Nothing beats starting a new year with jazz, especially when the jazz is from the talented Brubeck family. Dan and Chris, sons of legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, have continued the family business with their own Brubeck Brothers Quartet, which includes Mike DeMicco on guitar and Chuck Lamb on piano.
"We are jazz artists and we make jazz," said Chris who plays trombone and bass. "We are filled with improvisation, and we don't worry about (not) being commercial."
The band's CD "Intuition" (2006) spent three months in the Jazz Top 20 and the title of the band's CD "Classified," released last spring, is a reference to the Brubeck Brothers Quartet classical music influences.
"What I do is bring jazz into the classical world through my orchestral composition," Chris said.
The Brubeck Brothers Quartet has collaborated with several orchestras, including a 2006 performance with the Utah Symphony conducted by Keith Lockhart at the Salt Lake City Jazz Festival.
Chris's compositions are a vehicle for the quartet and have led to collaborations with chamber orchestras such as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra.
The group's hour-long concert at the Sierra Nevada Brewery has been broadcast on the nationally syndicated program "Sierra Center Stage," and the quartet has been featured on an hour-long, coast-to-coast live broadcast on National Public Radio's "Toast of the Nation."
"We are not a fusion band," Chris said. "There is a little element of fusion, and we have a lot of fun, but we have a high degree of integrity."
Chris said the quartet rarely performs a show without his father's infamous jazz composition "Take Five." In early December, Dave played a concert for his 88th birthday and soon after was inducted into the California Hall of Fame by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver.
"We are not a tribute band either, but we do three or four pieces by Dave," Chris said. "Partly because my brother Dan and I played in his band for years. It makes sense to feature Dave and play a tune that people like."
The Brubeck Brothers Quartet will be the first concert of the year for the Sun Valley Center for the Arts. The quartet will play on Friday, Jan. 9, at the Sun Valley Opera House at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for The Center members and $30 for non-members. For tickets visit sunvalleycenter.org, call 726-9491, ext. 10 or visit The Center in Ketchum. Advance purchase is recommended.
"Jazz is truly one of the completely American art forms," Chris said. "We as Americans should be fiercely proud of it."
Photo by Barry Schwartz
Chris and Dan Brubeck are one half of the Brubeck Brothers Quartet.
