Like many, I was saddened to read about the passing of jazz great Dave Brubeck a few days ago. Although, to be honest, I was not an expert in the man’s works — I owned Take Five, of course, but not a lot more.

But for me, when I think I Brubeck, one of my thoughts is of Glenn Gould. It’s from the liner notes of the 1992 remaster of Gould’s Goldberg Variations, where Michael Stegemann talked about how huge the album’s sales were when it first appeared in 1955 — quoting Norman Snider:

Indeed, if a college girl had one record of serious music among the Dave Brubecks and Kingston Trios, it was likely to be the Goldberg Variations.

Wonderfully sexist and condescending stuff, isn’t it? But, aside from that, I love the layers of meaning in that quote:

  1. Glenn Gould’s classical record was a No. 1 hit.
  2. The epitome of shallow, empty pop was Dave Brubeck.

It is almost trippy to me to think of Brubeck being so dismissed, thought of the way people today think of Lady Gaga or Sarah Brightman — or maybe Snider was just a huge snob.

Anyhow, sad to lose Brubeck. Maybe I’ll download a couple of his albums and listen to him before going to bed …