[Dixielandjazz] Review of movie re Dave Brubeck

[Norman Vickers]

To DJML & Musicians and Jazzfans list

From: Norman Vickers, Jazz Society of Pensacola

 

More reviews of Brubeck Movie to be shown on TBS -

 

www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-live-1130-jazz-brubeck-2010112
9,0,7719437.column


chicagotribune.com


MY KIND OF JAZZ


'In His Own Sweet Way': Celebrating Dave Brubeck's 90 years - on film


Howard Reich

Arts critic

9:19 AM CST, November 29, 2010

	
	

Dave Brubeck will turn 90 next Monday, and of all the tributes sure to flow
his way, one of the most endearing will be public: the broadcast of an
ambitious documentary film on his remarkably enduring career.

Airing at 4 p.m. that Monday on Turner Classic Movies, "Dave Brubeck: In His
Own Sweet Way" traces the arc of a life spent nobly in jazz. Though the film
has its flaws - including a few superfluous interviews and a sometimes
prosaic approach - the poetry of Brubeck's music and inspirational tone of
his biography transcend the rough spots.

Brubeck has been so famous for so long that even connoisseurs might be
forgiven for believing they already know everything about the pianist.
Indeed, the high points are familiar: His training under the brilliant
French classical composer Darius Milhaud; Brubeck's groundbreaking campaign
to bring jazz to college campuses in the 1950s; his inspired collaboration
with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond; his innovations in once-exotic time
signatures (most famously in tunes such as Desmond's "Take Five" and
Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk").

But it's the texture of Brubeck's life and art - his devotion to jazz, his
60-plus years of marriage to the radiant Iola Brubeck, his ability to span
secular and sacred genres - that gives this film its meaning and purpose. In
the course of 85 quickly moving minutes, "In His Own Sweet Way" shows the
vast reach of Brubeck's career, which catapulted him to the cover of Time
magazine in 1954, as well as the more intimate side of his story. Ebullient
performance sequences alternate with lovely family scenes; cogent musical
analyses share the spotlight with illuminating commentary from Iola and
close friends.

What emerges is a portrait of Brubeck young and old, some of the most
eloquent words originating, of course, with the pianist himself.

On Milhaud, who penned the first great classical composition steeped in
jazz, "La Creation du Monde" ("The Creation of the World"): "He gave me
directions: 'Never give up on jazz.' "

On how Brubeck came up with the volatile rhythms of "Blue Rondo a la Turk":
"I heard street musicians playing in Istanbul."

On whether there are any rules in jazz improvisation (in response to a
question from Walter Cronkite): "You bet your life there are. And the rules
in jazz would just scare you to death. They're so strict it's pitiful. Just
break one of the rules, and you'll never end up in another jam session with
the same guys again. Believe me."

Alas, "In His Own Sweet Way" has its share of banalities as well. Film
director George Lucas, whose inclusion here seems odd, at best, opines,
"That's what art is - it's the ability to transform emotion to another
person." (Thanks for the insight!) Pianist David Benoit, who mauls "Blue
Rondo" in the film, outdoes even Lucas in commenting on Brubeck's bloodline:
"It's just an amazing family. They're all musical. They're all wonderful."
(Gosh golly!)

And a sequence in which Benoit plays piano while British pianist-vocalist
Jamie Cullum slaps the instrument with his palms can most charitably be
called laughable.

Yet for every clunker, "In His Own Sweet Way" offers sequences of real
substance and emotional depth. An extended analysis of "Blue Rondo"
illuminates the inner workings of the tune while illustrating its impact
beyond the borders of jazz. And in a concluding sequence, Brubeck plays a
solo version of "All My Love," a tune he wrote as an anniversary gift to
Iola. She sits next to him at the piano, her silvery hair elegantly pulled
back, while a montage of black-and-white photos and videos from their life
together plays onscreen. Beautiful.

Yes, much of "In His Own Sweet Way" comes across as a love letter to
Brubeck, not only from those who discuss him on screen but from director
Bruce Ricker and Clint Eastwood, who served as executive producer (and has
done more for jazz in Hollywood than perhaps anyone in recent decades).

This may not be the grittiest film portrait of a leading jazz musician, but
for a 90th birthday tribute, it strikes many aptly tender notes.

To read more on jazz from Howard Reich, go to chicagotribune.com/jazz.

hreich at tribune.com

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