Timeline
December 6, 1920 Born in Concord, California
1933 Family moves to a 45,000 acre cattle ranch, Ione, California
1934 Lure of music finds Dave playing piano in local dance bands while in
high school
1938 Enters College of the Pacific, Stockton, California as pre-med student
to become a veterinarian
1940 Works his way though school as Jazz pianist, changes major to Music
1942 Graduates from College and enters the Army
1942 Marries Iola Whitlock, a student he met at the C.O.P
1944 Served in the European Theatre under Patton, leading "The Wolf Pack,"
a band primarily made up of wounded infantry men who were the first
racially integrated unit in the Army; they often performed at "The Front"
1946 Discharged from army, enrolls at Mills College and studies composition
with Darius Milhaud on the G.I. Bill
1947 Performs in Octet with Milhaud students Bill Smith, Dick and Bob
Collins, Jack Weeks, and Dave van Kriedt, as well as San Francisco
musicians Cal Tjader and Paul Desmond
1947 First son, Darius, is born
1949 First recording with his Trio, that included Cal Tjader & Ron Crotty
1949 Wins Best Small Combo awards in Down Beat Critics and Reader's Poll,
and the Metronome Poll
1949 Second son, Michael, is born
1951 Forms Dave Brubeck Quartet which features Paul Desmond on Alto
Saxophone
1952 Third son, Christopher, is born
1953 Quartet wins 1st place in Down Beat Reader's and Critic's Poll
1953 Only daughter, Catherine, is born
1954 Dave's popularity inspires a Time magazine cover story
1955 Fourth son, Daniel, is born
1956 Drummer Joe Morello joins the Quartet
1956 Composes ballet, "A Maiden in the Tower"
1958 Bassist Eugene Wright joins the Quartet
1958 First European Tour includes England and Scandinavia
1958 Quartet plays State Department tour of Iron Curtain and Middle Eastern
countries - Poland, Turkey, Afghanistan, India, East and West Pakistan, Sri
Lanka, Iran and Iraq
1959 Performed with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard
Bernstein, performing "Dialogues for Jazz Combo and Orchestra," composed by
his brother, Howard
1959 Quartet records "Time Out"
1960 Release of "Time Out"
1961 Single release of Paul Desmond's "Take 5" and Dave's "Blue Rondo A La
Turk" becomes the first Jazz instrumental to go "Gold"
1961 Composes 2nd ballet, "Points on Jazz"
1961 Fifth son, Matthew, is born
1962 Composes "The Real Ambassadors," a musical with wife, Iola, which he
records with Louis Armstrong
1963 Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops records "Elementals for Jazz Band
and Symphony Orchestra" featuring the Quartet with Paul Desmond, performed
and recorded again in 1970 with Gerry Mulligan
1964 First White House performance of the Quartet
1967 Disbands the Quartet and forms a new Quartet with Jack Six on bass and
Alan Dawson on drums, featuring Gerry Mulligan on Baritone
1968 First major composition recorded "The Light in the Wilderness, An
Oratorio For Today" with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Erich Kunzel,
Conductor
1969 Composes the Cantata, "Gates of Justice," a composition which utilizes
Hebrew Sacred Text and speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King to express the
spiritual ties which bind these people together
1971 Composes the Cantata, "Truth is Fallen," written in memory of the
slain students of Kent State and Jackson State University; composed for
Orchestra/Rock Group and Soprano Soloist
1972 Performs with sons Darius, Chris, Danny and others as "Two Generation
of Brubeck"
1974 Inducted as a Duke Ellington Fellow, Yale University
1975 Composes the Christmas Cantata, "La Fiesta De La Posada"
1976 Reunion Tour of the Classic Quartet: Dave, Paul Desmond, Gene Wright
and Joe Morello
1976 Bicentennial composition, "They All Sang Yankee Doodle," premiered
with Erich Kunzel and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra
1977 Last concert with Paul Desmond, at Lincoln Center
1977 Paul Desmond dies, May 30
1977 Forms a group with Dave, Chris, Darius and Dan called the New Brubeck
Quartet
1978 Composes the Cantata, "Beloved Son"
1978 Composes "Tritonis" for Guitar and Flute
1979 The New Dave Brubeck Quartet, with sons Darius, Chris and Danny,
performs at Montreux Jazz Festival
1979 Jerry Bergonzi and Butch Miles replace Darius and Danny Brubeck in
Quartet
1980 Composes "To Hope! A Celebration (A Mass For A New Decade)"
1982 Bill Smith and Randy Jones replace Jerry Bergonzi and Butch Miles in
Quartet
1983 Composes "Pange Lingua Variations" for Chorus and Orchestra
1983 Composes third ballet, "Glances"
1985 Composes the Cantata "The Voice of the Holy Spirit - Tongues of Fire"
1987 First tour of the USSR
1988 Composes the Cantata "Lenten-Triptych - Easter Trilogy"
1988 After heart surgery works on composition "Chromatique Fantasie" and
"In Praise of Mary," aka Concordia Lititia"
1989 Entertains world leaders at Reagan-Gorbochov Summit in Moscow
1989 Performs portions of the Mass for Pope John Paul II in San Francisco
1990 70th Birthday Concert with London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by
Russell Gloyd that includes four sons, Darius, Matthew, Chris and Dan
Brubeck, and guest star Stephane Grappelli
1991 Composes "Joy in the Morning"
1991 Premier of Choral composion "When The Lord Is Pleased"
1992 Composition "Earth Is Our Mother," for baritone solo and mixed chorus
is premiered by the University of North Michigan
1994 National Medal of the Arts presented to Dave by President Bill Clinton
1994 Elected to DownBeat Magazine Reader's Hall of Fame.
1995 Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies awards Dave a place in
their American Jazz Hall of Fame
1995 75th Birthday Celebration with London Symphony Orchestra and four sons
performing all-Brubeck program
1996 Inducted into the International Jazz Hall of Fame
1998 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1998 Composition "Hold Fast To Dreams," a major work for choir and soloists
based on the poetry of Langston Hughes.
1999 Named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts