Darius Brubeck

DARIUS BRUBECK

Recent Highlights : Tours in 2011 began with a couple of concerts in Saudi Arabia, performances in the US, England and Italy during the summer and ended with a ‘Brubecks Play Brubeck’ tour with his brothers Chris and Dan and saxophonist Dave O’Higgins following on from their successful tour in 2010. Also in 2010, Darius performed at the FIFA World Cup in Durban, South Africa with South African musicians. In 2009, he played at the Kennedy Center Honors awards ceremony honouring his father, Dave Brubeck.  

Brubeck is a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Jazz Studies. He taught jazz history and composition at Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul in 2007 and in 2010 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania at the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music. Other highlights have been performances at in the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (where he will play again this year), concerts in Israel and 5 sold-out concerts at Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club in London with the Brubecks Play Brubeck band. His regular group, The Darius Brubeck Quartet is based in London and plays frequently at clubs and festivals in the UK.

Early career:  During the 1970s, Brubeck led the original version of Gathering Forces, a jazz-fusion group playing all original music by its members and the Darius brubeck Ensemble, played with Don McLean, Larry Coryell and toured the world with Two Generations of Brubeck and The New Brubeck Quartet (Dave, Darius, Chris and Dan Brubeck) as an additional pianist and keyboardist.    

South Africa:  His focus changed to South Africa in 1983, when he initiated the first degree course in Jazz Studies offered by an African university. He taught at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa and was later appointed Director of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, where he remained until 2005. After retirement from full-time teaching he was made a Senior Research Associate of the School of Music. For 15 years Darius Brubeck and Afro Cool Concept (a band with South Africa’s premier alto saxophonist, Barney Rachabane performed all over Southern Africa and beyond. The band’s last CD, “Still On My Mind” was released in 2003 on Sheer Sound. Other recordings released by Sheer include “Before It’s Too Late” (2004) and “Tugela Rail and Other Tracks” (2007).

Beginning in 1988 with “The Jazzanians”, the first mixed-race student band from a South African university, Brubeck formed and led several bands officially representing his university and South Africa, giving workshops and concerts in the USA, UK, Europe, Peru, Thailand and Turkey. This included five International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) conferences in the USA.

Additional international tours included a series of overseas concerts (Denmark, UK, USA) celebrating 10 years of democracy in South Africa.  In 2004,  together with his brothers (Chris and Dan), Darius headlined at the National Arts “Joy of Jazz Festival”, South Africa and directed the South African National Youth Jazz Band  at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland. Darius and his wife/manager Catherine still return to South Africa every year.  

Composition:  In addition to always writing for his own bands across a range of jazz styles, Darius’ arrangements and a composition for orchestra for Dave Brubeck's 80th birthday concert can be heard on “Dave Brubeck – Live with the LSO” (2000). In 2005, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Darius a residency as a composer at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy.  In 2004, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra commissioned a piece by Brubeck and Zim Ngqawana, setting music to extracts from speeches by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, read by Morgan Freeman at the New York premiere. 

 Gathering Forces CDs in release-date order:

2011: ‘Two and Four/To and Fro’, The Darius Brubeck Quartet, (rec. 2010, 2011)

2011: ‘Brubecks Play Brubeck’, (Darius, Chris and Dan Brubeck with Dave O’Higgins (rec. 2010) 

2010: 'Chaplin’s Back', The Darius Brubeck Ensemble (rec. 1972)

2009 'For Lydia and the Lion',  The Darius Brubeck Quartet (rec. 2008)

2008 'Gathering Forces: Earthrise' (rec. 1979/80) 

DARIUS BRUBECK (short bio) In 1983 Brubeck introduced the first Jazz Studies degree in Africa and he was the Director of the Centre for Jazz & Popular Music until 2005. He established an international reputation touring with South African musicians. He is also a Fulbright Professor and published jazz scholar. After moving to London in 2005, he established The Darius Brubeck Quartet and Brubecks Play Brubeck. Creative highlights include "Commission 2004" (with Zim Ngqawana) performed by Wynton Marsalis, Morgan Freeman and Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra. Darius is very active as a band leader and composer with a number of CDs currently available. ˜For Lydia and the Lion", and "Two and Four / To and Fro" feature the quartet rhythm section Matt Ridley and Wesley Gibbens.

 Since graduating from Trinity College of Music in 2005, Matt has established himself as a much in demand talent on the UK Jazz scene. He is a member of the Mike Garrick Quartet and Big Band, and the Darius Brubeck Quartet. He gigs regularly with top jazz musicians, including Gilad Atzmon, Don Weller and Tommy Whittle.

He has contributed to the Folk Music scene, notably recording an album and touring with award-winning guitarist and song-smith, Sam Carter.

Matt's musical interests also encompass World Music. He plays bass in the Attab Haddad Quintet and also the Sabina Rakcheyeva Ensemble. His experience playing World Music has led him to create his own project combining the harmonic richness of jazz with the rhythmic complexity of Middle Eastern music. Recently he toured in Romania and Saudi Arabia with the Darius Brubeck Quartet. He is also the bassist on this band’s favourably reviewed cd, “For Lydia and the Lion”.

Wesley Gibbens is a freelance drummer based in London and has been featured in Darius Brubeck's jazz Quartet in England, Romania and Saudi Arabia and on their recent recording.

 For four years, he has worked with Barak Schmool as part of Minibloco, which is a local percussion and teaching collective specializing in Samba.

Other projects include 'The Irreverents' whose members are linked with

London's F-ire collective, Reuben Richards' 'Soultrain' who perform all around the UK playing soul music and Afla Sackey's 'Afrik Bawantu', which is a London based Afro Beat orchestra. "Afrik Bawantu" has performed at festivals all over the UK for example Sunrise, Green Man and Secret Garden.

Other touring credits in Europe include appearances with African musicians Netsayi, Lucky Ranku, Pinise Saul and the SA Gospel Singers. Wesley spends the balance of his time recording as a session drummer as well as composing music for television and film, notably Mastercard, Boden and Addidas.

Mike Rossi is Professor in Jazz and Woodwinds at the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Mike regularly performs at jazz festivals and conducts workshops and master-classes in Africa, Europe and the United States. He is the first recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston.

Uncommon Bebop from Common Bebop Practices and Concepts was a feature presentation of the 2011 New Orleans Jazz Education Conference (JEN). Other books of his published by Advance Music include Uncommon Etudes from Common Scales (also in Japanese) and Contrast and Continuity in Jazz Improvisation. Contrast and Continuity in Jazz Improvisation was launched at the 33rd International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) Conference (New York 2006). Advance Music has also published a number of Rossi’s original compositions arranged for mixed ensemble.

Mike is featured with the Darius Brubeck Quartet on Two And Four/To And Fro, For Lydia and the Lion, and Before It’s Too Late.His diverse recording credits include Conceptions: UCT Jazz 2010, Jazz und Elektronik-Live at the Baxter, Twenty Fabulous Fingers, Common Ground with Micu Narunsky and Ein Traum von wunderbarem Leben and Eduard Mörike: In der Vertonung, unserer Zeit with Ulrich Suesse and Patrick Bebelaar and Two in One – Mike Rossi/Ulrich Suesse. His CD of original jazz compositions, Beauty and the Blues features jazz greats Rufus Reid, Tom McKinley and Billy Hart.

Some of his performing and recording credits include appearances with David Liebman, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Anthony Weller, Lou Rawls, Rob McConnell, Samuele Garofoli, George Russell, Micu Narunsky, Bill Watrous, Aretha Franklin, Rosemary Clooney, Alec Dankworth, Jack van Poll, Winston Mankunku, Barney Rachabane, Johnny Fourie and Carlo Mombelli, The Boston Big Band, The Artie Shaw Orchestra, The Mike Campbell Big Band and The African Jazz Pioneers.

Rossi presently serves as President of SAJE (South African Association for Jazz Education) following three terms as Secretary and is a member of JEN and IASJ. He is a Rampone & Cazzani Saxophone Artist; makers of Hand-Made Italian Saxophones.

For more information visit www.mikerossijazz.com