**** The OFFICIAL *** R.I.P. Thread. ****

Dave Brubeck, U.S. Jazz Pianist, 'Take Five' Artist, Dies at 91
By David Henry on December 05, 2012 Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Google Plus
http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ist-dies-at-91

Dave Brubeck, the U.S. pianist and composer whose quartet produced the first jazz album that sold more than 1 million copies and was best known for the melodic composition "Take Five," has died. He was 91.

He died today of heart failure, the Associated Press reported, citing his manager Russell Gloyd.

Brubeck's experimental recordings and unorthodox time signatures broke new ground in the 1950s, inspiring a generation of musicians and delivering jazz to a wider audience. His cool, West Coast sound defied traditional forms by playing in two keys at once, a harmonic approach that gave jazz a new angle.

The band stayed together for 16 years and was one of the most popular in jazz history, winning a cult following among students through regular performances on university campuses. Brubeck's works such as "The Duke" and "In Your Own Sweet Way" became standards of the genre, while "Time Out" set a precedent for jazz music by selling more than 1 million records after it was released in 1959.

Brubeck performed for Pope John Paul II and for eight U.S. presidents, including Ronald Reagan, whose 1988 summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow included a concert by the jazz maestro. Brubeck also toured at the invitation of the U.S. State Department in a goodwill capacity, even performing behind the Iron Curtain in 1958 at a time of Cold War tension. In 1954, he became the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine.

Early Years
David Warren Brubeck was born Dec. 6, 1920, in Concord, California, near San Francisco. His father was a cattleman and his mother taught music and played piano. At age 12, Brubeck moved with his family to a ranch that his father managed near the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There the young musician honed his piano skills in local bands before enrolling as a student of veterinary medicine at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He later changed his major to music after abandoning his plans to become a rancher.

After serving in the U.S. Army under General George Patton during World War II, Brubeck attended Mills College in Oakland, California, where he was taught by classical composer Darius Milhaud. He recorded with fellow students as an experimental jazz octet, which included Paul Desmond, whose partnership with Brubeck produced tunes for about two decades. Alto saxophonist Desmond was the composer of "Take Five," which was named after its unusual 5/4 time signature.

Brubeck said in a Public Broadcasting Service interview in 2001 that he almost gave up jazz as a career because of the hardships his lifestyle inflicted on his young family. To avoid the cost of a motel room at $8 a night, they once rented a place in the mountains above Salt Lake City, Utah, where the house had a dirt floor and the children had to be washed in a stream.

The Quartet
In 1951, the Dave Brubeck Quartet was formed with Desmond on alto saxophone, Joe Dodge on drums and Bob Bates on bass. The latter two were then replaced by Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. Wright, a black American, was the subject of discrimination by club owners, prompting Brubeck to cancel several concerts in protest. He and his wife, Iola, a lyricist, also composed an anti-racism piece called "The Real Ambassadors," which featured jazz great Louis Armstrong.

After the quartet's break-up in 1967, Brubeck appeared in a band with Gerry Mulligan and later formed a group with three of his own sons: Darius, Chris and Danny. He continued to tour the world in later years, playing concerts across Europe. His 80th birthday was celebrated by a joint performance with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Brubeck received the National Medal of the Arts, presented at the White House, and he won a Grammy in 1996 for lifetime achievements. The Brubeck Institute, whose honorary chairman is actor Clint Eastwood, was created by the University of the Pacific to support jazz students and promote Brubeck's music.

"Once when asked how I would like to be remembered, I answered, 'As someone who opened doors,'" Brubeck said.

Damn. Saw him perform at an MBZ charity event a few years ago. RIP.

RIP Senator Daniel Inouye an American hero:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...-dies/1776021/

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, 88, dies

WASHINGTON -- Democrat Daniel Inouye, the U.S. Senate's most senior member and a Medal of Honor recipient for his bravery during World War II, has died. He was 88.

He died of respiratory complications, according to the Associated Press.

oh dear - pasted into the wrong place - mods.. can one of you change the thread title to: "RIP Senator Daniel Inouye an American hero" - cheers.

A sad loss. RIP.

Originally Posted by wyb

oh dear - pasted into the wrong place - mods.. can one of you change the thread title to: "RIP Senator Daniel Inouye an American hero" - cheers.

I believe you can edit the thread title yourself.

Originally Posted by Adumbration

I believe you can edit the thread title yourself.

I have seen that posted also - supposedly under thread tools - but I can't see it (of course I could be just not seeing it - wood for the trees and all that - but I did look)... \

I found it - first you have to click the 1st thread post number (#1) to view the single-post - then click "edit post" - and the thread-title box appears and is editable.... thankfully I don't mess up thread titles that often. It isn't visible if you're in the regular thread mode and click "edit post" - at least not for us mere regular users - it might be different for mods of course - I can't be bothered to login to the boards I have mod rights on to check and haven't done so in many years - but they were much older versions of phpBB and vBulletin back then - a lot has changed I am sure.

He died? Damn, rest in peace, dude.

A true American Hero.

RIP and thank you for your service to our country.

CA

he was willing to give everything he had. he added stature to to all who served. a hero!

We can recount his heroic actions:
On April 21, 1945, Inouye was grievously wounded while leading an assault on a heavily-defended ridge near San Terenzo in Tuscany, Italy called Colle Musatello. The ridge served as a strongpoint along the strip of German fortifications known as the Gothic Line, which represented the last and most dogged line of German defensive works in Italy. As he led his platoon in a flanking maneuver, three German machine guns opened fire from covered positions just 40 yards away, pinning his men to the ground. Inouye stood up to attack and was shot in the stomach; ignoring his wound, he proceeded to attack and destroy the first machine gun nest with hand grenades and fire from his Thompson submachine gun. After being informed of the severity of his wound by his platoon sergeant, he refused treatment and rallied his men for an attack on the second machine gun position, which he also successfully destroyed before collapsing from blood loss.

As his squad distracted the third machine gunner, Inouye crawled toward the final bunker, eventually drawing within 10 yards. As he raised himself up and cocked his arm to throw his last grenade into the fighting position, a German inside fired a rifle grenade that struck him on the right elbow, severing most of his arm and leaving his own primed grenade reflexively "clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore".[10] Inouye's horrified soldiers moved to his aid, but he shouted for them to keep back out of fear his severed fist would involuntarily relax and drop the grenade. As the German inside the bunker reloaded his rifle, Inouye pried the live grenade from his useless right hand and transferred it to his left. As the German aimed his rifle to finish him off, Inouye tossed the grenade off-hand into the bunker and destroyed it. He stumbled to his feet and continued forward, silencing the last German resistance with a one-handed burst from his Thompson before being wounded in the leg and tumbling unconscious to the bottom of the ridge. When he awoke to see the concerned men of his platoon hovering over him, his only comment before being carried away was to gruffly order them to return to their positions, since, as he pointed out, "nobody called off the war!"[11]

The remainder of Inouye's mutilated right arm was later amputated at a field hospital without proper anesthesia, as he had been given too much morphine at an aid station and it was feared any more would lower his blood pressure enough to kill him.[12]
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As a former veteran, I am a supporter of the heroic, and highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team. These "sons" of imprisoned fathers and mothers fought beyond all expectations (and were sacrificed excessively by their overly zealous "white" commanders).

They are the most highly decorated U.S. infantry unit in history. A proud heritage...with huge losses. They never flinched in their duty.

In L.A., I know their grandsons, and granddaughters today...and those few remaining who have received the Congressional Gold Medal after so many years.

And after this magnificent showing of unprecedented heroism in the field of battle, these Japanese-Americans were subject to the most horrific racism...confiscation of property, and denial of compensation for decades...yet they never complained.

They only (proudly) knew they they had done their duty for their country...and tried to get by after the war, as their parents were released from internment camps...with no where to go...no money...no property to claim after war-time confiscation.

What a sad chapter in our country.

Salute to an American hero who should have received The Medal in Italy.

RIP Senator Inouye.

We are going to miss you.

Originally Posted by Mig29

We are going to miss you.

+1

It's a shame that what he is most known for is being the victim of a Senate that played politics, to halt his nomination to the Supreme Court despite being eminently qualified.

If women want to keep their job, why shouldn't they submit to voluntary sterilization? Not an exact Bork quote but in the ballpark.

Did Nixon's bidding firing the special prosecutor after two other men refused.

We dodged one.

Originally Posted by GregD

+1

It's a shame that what he is most known for is being the victim of a Senate that played politics, to halt his nomination to the Supreme Court despite being eminently qualified.

He was a nut.

Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who topped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 but kept a low public profile in controversies over the second Gulf War against Iraq, died Thursday. He was 78.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...#ixzz2GJLtGOwI


RIP.

Just read the story on CNN.

RIP

He was skilled in his craft, and no doubt fewer Americans were killed than would otherwise have been so under lower quality leadership.

RIP

hand salute! RIP

Originally Posted by Kamdog

He was skilled in his craft, and no doubt fewer Americans were killed than would otherwise have done so under lower quality leadership.

RIP

I was scared when our unit was deployed to the gulf. His leadership inspired and comforted me. This was not going to be Vietnam part II.

Originally Posted by FIA

I was scared when our unit was deployed to the gulf. His leadership inspired and comforted me. This was not going to be Vietnam part II.

And we old folks, who saw how the Vietnam Vets were treated upon their return, did not let that happen again either.

President Bush handled his end of things extremely well too.

Farewell soldier. RIP.

Originally Posted by FIA

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...#ixzz2GJLtGOwI


RIP.

wow.

What is going on this week?

Bush senior is in the ICU although his family says "don't bring out the harps just yet".



Hope he pulls through.

Originally Posted by paulg

wow.

What is going on this week?

Bush senior is in the ICU although his family says "don't bring out the harps just yet".



Hope he pulls through.

It's a matter of hours or days for him. I bet you he doesn't make the end of the weekend.