Quotes by Dave Brubeck

“Im beginning to understand myself. But it would have been great to be able to understand myself when I was 20 rather than when I was 82.”

“Take Five. Theres a certain piece that if we dont play, were in trouble.”

“The Pacific Mozart Chorale in Berkeley asked four different composers (the other three are John Adams, Meredith Monk and David Lang) to fill in what Mozart left out,”

“We immediately gelled and we both were hearing things together and feeling the beat together, ... We both had a wonderful ball ... it was a fun, enjoyable musical experience.”

“We immediately gelled and we both were hearing things together and feeling the beat together. We both had a wonderful ball ... it was a fun, enjoyable musical experience.”

“On my way out here, I was writing all the way on the plane, ... and as soon as I got to San Diego, I arranged with the symphony to find an old practice room in their basement. Its better than two-thirds completed. Id say four-fifths.”

“And it still produces, too. The Stockton Symphony is top-notch in my book, and theres some great students coming to the institute. Joe Gilman (the American River College music professor who also teaches at the institute) is one of the most talented pianists Ive ever heard. That praise doesnt do him justice,”

“It has taken me almost 60 years finally to compose something I wanted to write when I was a young soldier in Europe.”

“I was young, too, ... It was new for both of us.”

“[? Dave Brubeck and Marian McPartland, two masters of the jazz piano, Friday.] Its always an event, when shes there, ... Shes a wonderful pianist.”

Jazz is about the only form of art existing today in which there is freedom of the individual without the loss of group contact.

Jazz isnt dead yet. Its the underpinning of everything in this country. Whether its a Broadway show, or fusion, or right on through classical music, if its coming out of the U.S., its not going to survive unless its got some jazz influence.

Theres a way of playing safe, theres a way of using tricks and theres the way I like to play which is dangerously where youre going to take a chance on making mistakes in order to create something you havent created before.

Jazz stands for freedom. Its supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and dont be a perfectionist - leave that to the classical musicians.

Many people dont understand how disciplined you have to be to play jazz... And that is really the idea of democracy - freedom within the Constitution or discipline. You dont just get out there and do anything you want.

Jazz is about freedom within discipline. Usually a dictatorship like in Russia and Germany will prevent jazz from being played because it just seemed to represent freedom, democracy and the United States.