A truly inspiring and moving concert by the Dave Brubeck Institute Quintet last night at the Crocker Museum. Interspersed with talk about various jazz artists and the origins of jazz, and how jazz brought American blacks and whites together back in the dark ages of our country. Dave Brubeck would cancel gigs at segregated theaters, and would make headlines in the local papers every time by doing so.
“Kinship doesn’t come from skin color. It’s in your soul and your mind.”
Dave Brubeck
“Strange as it may seem to those who have not been in the music business long enough to recall it, there was a time when the public appearance of black and white musicians performing in the same group not only was taboo, but could have caused physical violence to erupt in many parts of the then not-so-United States….More than any of their contemporaries, jazz musicians were responsible for breaking down the barriers and attempting to foster a spirit of goodwill between the races.”
Leonard Feather
Billboard Magazine
May 4, 1974
The music was fantastic - the theater packed by enthusiastic lovers of jazz, and the last song had us on our feet dancing and clapping rhythm. The musicians, so young, so talented, so knowledgeable. There is hope for the future, ladies and gentlemen.
