Is Dave Brubeck Living or Dead?

Living or Dead? Celebrities, films, tv shows, birthdays, deaths ... your one-stop shop to satisfy your morbid curiosity.

Is American Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck dead? Or ... still alive?

Subscribe to Living or Dead news !!!

Celebrity death and birthday updates to your inbox!

Unsub at any time. We'll never sell your details.

By Indiana Drones

Updated 6 November 2017

Image info

Artist	Jac. de Nijs / Anefo
Credit	Derived from Nationaal Archief
License	cc-by-sa-3.0
Desc	Aankomst Dave Brubeck met echtgenote en zoontje op Schiphol, Dave Brubeck (kop) 9 oktober 1964
Usage	Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

Image info/credit

American Jazz pianist and composer

Dave Brubeck is ...

Dead

Born	6 December 1920
Died	5 December 2012
Age	91 years

About Dave Brubeck

David Warren Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer, considered to be one of the foremost exponents of cool jazz. He wrote a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities. His long-time musical partner, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, wrote the saxophone melody for the Dave Brubeck Quartet's best remembered piece, "Take Five", which is in 5/4 time and has endured as a jazz classic on one of the top-selling jazz albums, Time Out. Brubeck experimented with time signatures throughout his career, recording "Pick Up Sticks" in 6/4, "Unsquare Dance" in 7/4, "World's Fair" in 13/4, and "Blue Rondo à la Turk" in 9/8. He was also a respected composer of orchestral and sacred music and wrote soundtracks for television, such as Mr. Broadway and the animated miniseries This Is America, Charlie Brown.

About Death

Brubeck died of heart failure on December 5, 2012, in Norwalk, Connecticut, one day shy of what would have been his 92nd birthday. He was on his way to a cardiology appointment, accompanied by his son Darius. A birthday party concert had been planned for him with family and famous guests. A memorial tribute was held in May 2013.