"'Appeal to the Intellectuals': Dave Brubeck’s 1950s Critical Reception"

Modern, progressive, cerebral, intellectual, and cool: These were the words music critics of the 1950s often used to describe jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and his music. Despite Brubeck’s assertions that he was an emotionally expressive improviser, critics focused on Brubeck’s background in European classical music, which they found to be unique among jazz musicians. Critics explained that Brubeck was a student of the French classical composer Darius Milhaud, and had even studied with German modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg. This pedigree, combined with Brubeck’s wholesome image as a hardworking family man and his concert appearances in colleges across the country introduced Brubeck to a whole new audience as a jazz intellectual. But what, exactly, made critics describe the Brubeck sound as intellectual?  In this lecture-recital, Ph.D. candidate Kelsey Klotz will explore the supposed sound of intellect in the music of Dave Brubeck through select transcriptions of the compositions and improvisations Brubeck performed on his first solo album, Brubeck Plays Brubeck (1956). Pieces featured will include “In Your Own Sweet Way,” “The Duke,” “Two Part Contention,” and “Weep No More.” Ms. Klotz’s lecture stems from her dissertation research and work in the Dave Brubeck Archive and Paul Desmond Papers, housed at the University of the Pacific Library.

Kelsey Klotz is a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at Washington University in St. Louis. Ms. Klotz graduated summa cum laude from Truman State University in 2010 with a B.A. in Piano. While at Truman, Ms. Klotz studied with Dr. David McKamie. Since attending Wash U, Ms. Klotz has studied with St. Louis-based jazz pianist Kara Baldus. 

Ms. Klotz is currently writing a dissertation titled “'How Can They Call Us Cool?’ Race, Authenticity, and Embodiment in Cool Jazz Narratives.” Her dissertation investigates narrative formation and the cultural construction of racial bias in the cool jazz genre, and focuses on Miles Davis, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Ms. Klotz has presented her research at a variety of national and regional conferences, including the Society for American Music Conference, the Feminist Theory and Music Conference, and the Midwest Chapter for the Society for Ethnomusicology Conference.