Dave Brubeck: Piano blues

Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) will of course be remembered as a brilliant musical explorer, a virtuoso improviser, a prolific composer with a fondness for odd time signatures and a great ambassador for jazz music in general. Yet, Dave Brubeck still regarded himself simply as “a composer who plays the piano”. The pianist is also often quoted as saying:

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 any place 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.

Piano Blues (2003)

Dave Brubeck’s genuine approach to music is all the more obvious in this short clip taken from the 2003 “Piano Blues” documentary. Directed by Clint Eastwood, it is one of a seven-part series on the origins of Blues under the supervision of Martin Scorsese. During the course of his interview with Clint Eastwood, a piano player himself, Dave Brubeck starts a tune and delivers here a piece that is both simple and full of emotions, like a child brimming with excitement. An absolute delight.