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Content from KIOS staff relating to jazz, blues, and all kinds of music.

A tribute to Dave Brubeck

Jazz legend  Dave Brubeck died Tuesday at age 91, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. It was the end of one of the most accomplished lives in jazz history.

Dave Brubeck was born on December 6, 1920. He was a jazz pianist and composer, one of the most significant artists of the genre. His recording with his quartet in 1959, Time Out, remains one of  most important and top selling jazz albums in history; containing the huge mainstream hit "Time Out" as well as  "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and "Strange Meadow Lark". Time Out is a must have for any jazz collection, featuring significant contributions by Brubeck's longtime musical  colleague, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond.  Alongside the Miles Davis recording Kind of Blue, also recorded in 1959, Time Out is a landmark jazz release.

Dave Brubeck was also a composer of orchestral and sacred music, and wrote soundtracks for television. Five of Brubeck's children have been professional musicians with whom he performed extensively.  Dave Brubeck's music has had a lasting impact on generations of musicians and jazz fans worldwide. This writer remembers the music of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and the recording Jazz Impressions of Eurasia as being some of the first heard in childhood, and that music has remained a source of great joy for this jazz fan for decades. Dave Brubeck will be deeply missed.

More on the passing of Dave Brubeck can be found at http://www.npr.org/artists/15156676/dave-brubeck

Chris Cooke has been a voice on public radio in Omaha since 1989. Working at KVNO-FM during college, Cooke hosted a weekend progressive jazz show on the station in addition to working as an on-air announcer. In November 1992, Cooke signed on at KIOS-FM and has been there ever since. He has hosted the Tuesday and Thursday editions of Jazz in the Afternoon since 1996 and has hosted Last Call since that year. A long time fan of jazz music, Cooke enjoys talking with the musicians who make jazz music and presenting those conversations with listeners. When not hosting or listening to jazz, on record or in person, Cooke maintains a busy schedule as a self-employed web design consultant.