Darius Brubeck

Darius Brubeck
Darius Brubeck (photo by Rob Blackham)
Darius Brubeck (photo by Rob Blackham)
Background information
Born (1947-06-14) June 14, 1947 (age 77)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, bandleader
InstrumentPiano
Years active1960s–present
LabelsUbuntu Music, Sheer Sound, B&W Music, Roots Records, Umkhonto Records, Direct to Disc, Paramount Records, Atlantic Records, Vanguard Records, Columbia Records, Tomato Records, Gathering Forces
Member ofThe Darius Brubeck Quartet, Brubecks Play Brubeck
Formerly ofDarius Brubeck and Afro-Cool Concept, Brubeck/Ntoni Afro-Cool Concept, The New Brubeck Quartet, Two Generations of Brubeck, The Darius Brubeck Ensemble, Gathering Forces, MBR (Muruga Brubeck Robinson)
SpouseCatherine Brubeck
Websitedariusbrubeck.com

Darius Brubeck (born David Darius Brubeck; June 14, 1947) is an American jazz pianist, author, and educator. He is the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck with whom he worked professionally in the 1970s, while also performing in his own bands, The Darius Brubeck Ensemble and Gathering Forces.[1]

In 1983, Brubeck joined the staff of the University of Natal (now University of KwaZulu-Natal) in Durban, South Africa, as a Lecturer in Music with a mission to introduce Jazz Studies.[2] Darius and his wife, Catherine, co-authored a memoir of their time in South Africa between 1983 and 2006 titled Playing the Changes: Jazz at an African University and on the Road, published by University of KwaZulu-Natal Press (2023). The international edition is published by the University of Illinois Press (2024).[3] The couple currently resides in Rye, East Sussex in the south of England.[4]

Currently, Darius leads The Darius Brubeck Quartet — Dave O’Higgins, sax, Matt Ridley, bass, Wesley Gibbens, drums — based in London[5] and Brubecks Play Brubeck, featuring his brothers Chris (bass and trombone) and Dan Brubeck (drums).[6]

A documentary film by Michiel ten Kleij (Red Cloak Films) entitled Playing the Changes: Tracking Darius Brubeck was completed in 2023.[7]

  1. ^ "About Darius Brubeck". Darius Brubeck. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  2. ^ Darius Brubeck biography, Rediscovering Dave Brubeck, PBS.
  3. ^ Raubenheimer, Mick (23 January 2024). "KZN's apartheid-resisting jazz pioneers riff on resistance and freedom's form". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  4. ^ "Ubuntu Management Group-Celebration as jazzman Darius Brubeck licks Covid-19". Ubuntu Management Group. 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  5. ^ "The Darius Brubeck Quartet - trad jazz with piano, sax, bass and drums". Darius Brubeck. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  6. ^ "Brubecks play Brubeck - Darius, Chris and Dan Brubeck, Dave O'Higgins". Darius Brubeck. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  7. ^ "Playing the changes tracking Darius Brubeck". MVEfilm (in Dutch). MVE Film. 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2024-03-03.