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I’m 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.

Dave Brubeck

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Dave Brubeck
Age: 91 †
Born: 1920
Born: December 6
Died: 2012
Died: December 5
Bandleader
Composer
Jazz Musician
Jazz Pianist
Music Arranger
Musician
Pianist
Recording Artist
Songwriter
Concord
California
David Warren Dave Brubeck
David Warren Brubeck
David Brubeck
David W. Brubeck
Understand
Able
Great
Would
Beginning
Rather

More quotes by Dave Brubeck

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My dad was the manager at the 45,000-acre ranch, but he owned his own 1,200-acre ranch, and I owned four cattle that he gave to me when I graduated from grammar school, from the eighth grade. And those cows multiplied, and he kept track of them for years for me. And that was my herd.
Dave Brubeck
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I was always very aware of drummers. My oldest brother Henry was a drummer, and he drummed on everything in the house from the kitchen sink to stovepipes. He was the first drummer in the Gil Evans Orchestra, so you've got to know how great he was.
Dave Brubeck
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And there is a time where you can be beyond yourself. You can be better than your technique. You can be better than most of your usual ideas. And this is a whole other category that you can get into.
Dave Brubeck
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One of the reasons I believe in jazz is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart. It’s the same anyplace in the world, that heartbeat. It’s the first thing you hear when you’re born — or before you’re born — and it’s the last thing you hear.
Dave Brubeck
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I wasn't allowed to play in some universities in the United States and out of twenty-five concerts, twenty-three were canceled unless I would substitute my black bass player for my old white bass player, which I wouldn't do.
Dave Brubeck
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It's like a whole orchestra, the piano for me. And also it's to me the greatest instrument. I shouldn't say that, but I believe that this is the only instrument I can really feel happy about playing.
Dave Brubeck
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Art may not have the power to change the course of history, but it can provide a perspective on historical events that needs to be heard, even if it's seldom heeded. After all the temporary influences that once directed the course of history have vanished, great art survives and continues to speak to each generation.
Dave Brubeck
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Jazz stands for freedom. It's supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and don't be a perfectionist - leave that to the classical musicians.
Dave Brubeck
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The secret of a great melody is a secret.
Dave Brubeck
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The worst thing about the life of a jazz musician on the road is getting to the gig. Once you're there and playing, it's marvelous.
Dave Brubeck
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If I told you all the people that have secretly told me I've influenced them, you'd never believe it, and you'll never see it in print, either.
Dave Brubeck
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You could play probably a span of 50 years of me playing St. Louis Blues, and most of the time it will be different every time.
Dave Brubeck
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When you hear Bach or Mozart, you hear perfection. Remember that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were great improvisers. I can hear that in their music.
Dave Brubeck
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Every individual should be expressing themselves, whether a politician or a minister or a policeman.
Dave Brubeck
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Don't be a perfectionist... leave that to the classical musicians.
Dave Brubeck
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Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, and many other great jazz musicians objected to their music being called jazz. While the outside world may want to put a label on it, those who create it think of it just as music, and tend not to classify it.
Dave Brubeck
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There are a lot of people on the lowest rung of Jacob's Ladder, and we must somehow reach down, give them a hand, and make them want to climb. A little really good music never hurt anyone. And when people are given good music they can grow spiritually and even discover they like it.
Dave Brubeck
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Kinship doesn't come from skin color. It's in your soul and your mind.
Dave Brubeck
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The reality for me is simple. When music is written, it is usually categorized as classical. When it is improvised, it can still be called classical if it is an inspired improvisation. In either category, it is still music, and it can be good or bad or simply mediocre.
Dave Brubeck
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I used to take my mother to Yosemite. When I turned 14, I got my driver's license, and that's where she'd want to go, so I'd go take her there for two weeks.
Dave Brubeck