Sacred Dave, beloved son

Great jazz composers never die, they just grow halos.

Many grew halos during the 1960s. The aging Duke Ellington blended jazz and his deepening faith in several “sacred concerts.” The peak of saxophonist John Coltrane’s career was his “humble offering to God,” a wildly searching, spiritual album called “A Love Supreme.”

Dave Brubeck also got spiritual in the 1960s. At that point he was probably the biggest “rock star” jazz ever produced, thanks to his genius as a pianist and composer but also for his impeccable timing (pun intended). The playful, cool, endlessly catchy album “Time Out” became the cocktail party soundtrack for the hipster generation when it came out in 1959. It was the first jazz album to sell more than 1 million copies.

But Brubeck broke up his classic quartet to undertake sprawling, serious works that combine jazz and the sacred sound of the church choir. He was inspired by everything from his experiences during World War II to the civil rights struggles of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“My dad always stood up for civil rights and social justice. He was in the middle of all that,” drummer Dan Brubeck, one of Dave’s many musical sons, said during a telephone interview. “He wasn’t about politics. He was just thinking clearly about humanity.”

The Dan Brubeck Jazz Quartet will further that clear thinking with a concert of Dave’s sacred works Sunday in Vancouver. Joining them will be the 40-voice Bravo! Northwest Chorale and conductors Michael Kissinger, co-founder of Bravo! and founder of the annual Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival, and Maria Manzo. Manzo directs a series called “Music at the Madeleine”; that’s a church in Northeast Portland where you can catch the same concert tonight if you can’t get to it Sunday afternoon in Vancouver.

“It’s so relevant to what’s going on right now,” Dan Brubeck said. “People need to come together.”

Explorer

Dave Brubeck, who died in 2012 at age 91, was raised on a huge California ranch. “His mother was a Christian Scientist and his father was literally a cowboy,” Dan said. That father liked to say church was for people who didn’t already know the difference between right and wrong, he said.

Drafted into the Army, Dave Brubeck “really struggled” with his conscience, Dan said. World War II convinced Dave that the Ten Commandments had been forgotten, he was quoted as saying. In the Army, he formed one of the first racially integrated bands (and met his main musical partner, saxophonist Paul Desmond). Later on, he served as a musical ambassador for the U.S. State Department, building cultural bridges to people all over the globe.

He adopted Catholicism in 1980 but disliked the word “converted” because, he said, he didn’t convert from anything.

“He was very open-minded and interested in the whole philosophy of religion,” Dan said. “I was aware of him exploring a lot of religions before he eventually landed on Catholicism. We went to see some gurus together. We had some interesting times.”

Universal

Dave Brubeck’s first foray into sacred music was a little piece he wrote to console his brother, whose son had died of a brain tumor. That piece, “Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled,” was eventually absorbed into Brubeck’s first grand accomplishment in sacred music, a choral work called “The Gates of Justice.” It was written immediately after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and it appeals to blacks and Jews to realize their common struggle.

“Because of their long history of suffering, Jews and American blacks know better than any other people the consequences of hate and alienation,” Brubeck wrote. “The spiritual and emotional ties, born of suffering, which bind these people together, have much to teach all of us on this shrinking planet.”

In the 1960s, Brubeck also wrote an oratorio called “The Light in the Wilderness,” with text taken from Bible stories about the temptations and meditations of Christ. In the late 1970s, he wrote an Easter oratorio called “Beloved Son,” which spans musical styles from Bach to bebop to gospel. Just before becoming Catholic in 1980, he wrote a Mass called “To Hope: A Celebration.”

“He composed music that crossed all boundaries of faith, music that speaks to the universal nature of human beings,” Manzo said.

Beloved son

Dan Brubeck, 61, is a driving jazz force all his own. “A highly energetic child who found his calling” on drums, according to his website, he played in later versions of his father’s famous quartet as well as numerous dynasty bands — including the popular Brubeck Brothers Quartet. His Dan Brubeck Quartet was formed a few years ago to revive Brubeck material with lyrics by Iola Brubeck, Dave’s wife and Dan’s mother — including many of the sacred works you’ll hear at this concert.

“We are looking forward to creating this concert with Dan and his fantastic quartet,” Manzo said. “This concert will be a unique opportunity to hear the music of Dave Brubeck performed by our chorale and Dave’s son Dan.”