[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 28, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1968-E1969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN RECOGNITION OF DAVID BRUBECK AND THE DUKE ELLINGTON JAZZ FESTIVAL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2005

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on the occasion of the First 
Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, to pay tribute to one of our 
Nation's great jazz musicians, Dave Brubeck, for his contributions to 
American jazz music. On September 30, 2004, Congress passed H. Con. 
Res. 501 paying tribute to the festival's namesake, Duke Ellington, a 
DC native and a celebrated American musical genius. I am proud that 
from September 28 through October 3, 2005, the Nation's Capital will 
honor Ellington with the first annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in 
the District of Columbia. Special recognition for Dave Brubeck will be 
among the opening activities of the festival.
  We inaugurate our jazz festival in the city of Washington as New 
Orleans, the great city that gave birth to jazz, has been overwhelmed 
by flood and hurricane. We know that New Orleans will overcome and will 
rise to reclaim its people, its culture, and its precious jazz heritage 
and leadership.
  Dave Brubeck stands as one of jazz music's living legends, and he is 
equally distinguished as a composer and pianist. Mr. Brubeck began his 
musical studies at the College of the Pacific, earning his degree in 
1942. Shortly thereafter he entered the United States Army, where he 
served honorably in General George Patton's 3rd Army during World War 
II. Near the end of the war Mr. Brubeck played

[[Page E1969]]

in an Army band that he himself integrated, one of the first integrated 
units of any type in the entire military.
  After his military service, Dave Brubeck returned to school to study 
music, enrolling at Mills College in Oakland, CA. There he studied 
under the distinguished composer Darius Milhaud, and upon graduation, 
Mr. Brubeck formed the Dave Brubeck Octet. He later gained great 
notoriety after forming the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
  By 1954 Mr. Brubeck's popularity was such that his picture appeared 
on the cover of Time Magazine, and his recordings were being played 
throughout the world. His album ``Time Out'' and the hits ``Take Five'' 
and ``Blue Rondo a la Turk'' ``went gold,'' a rare feat for an 
instrumental jazz recording.
  Subsequent world tours by the Quartet, including several for the U.S. 
State Department, made Brubeck one of America's foremost goodwill 
ambassadors. He entertained world leaders at the Reagan-Gorbachev 
Summit in Moscow in 1988; he has performed before eight U.S. 
presidents, princes, kings, heads of state and Pope John Paul II. 
Always expanding jazz horizons, the Dave Brubeck Quartet performed, and 
in 1959 recorded, with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic 
Orchestra. An early experimenter in combining jazz with symphony 
orchestras, Brubeck continues to appear as composer-performer in 
concerts of his choral and symphonic orchestral compositions. He 
celebrated his 80th birthday with the London Symphony Orchestra, 
performing an all-Brubeck program.
  Mr. Brubeck has received many honors, including a star on the 
Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Down Beat Hall of Fame, the Jazz Institute 
Hall of Fame at Rutgers University, the American Eagle Award from the 
National Music Council, the Gerard Manley Hopkins Award from Fairfield 
University, the Connecticut Arts Award, Helwig Distinguished Artist 
Award, and honorary doctorates from six American universities, one from 
the University of Duisburg in Germany and Nottingham University in 
England. Early this year he received the Benny Carter Award from the 
Association of Jazz Societies. The French Government has cited him for 
his contribution to the arts. In 1999, the National Endowment of the 
Arts honored Mr. Brubeck as an NEA Jazz Master.
  He has recently received the Smithson Medal and awards from the Music 
Educators National Conference, the National Music Teachers Association 
and Columbia University Teachers College. The State of California 
presented him with its first Golden State award. The University of the 
Pacific has honored him with the establishment of the Brubeck Institute 
that is dedicated to the promulgation of contemporary music of all 
styles, with an emphasis on jazz and improvisation.
  Duke Ellington himself was a great influence on Dave Brubeck, and Mr. 
Brubeck even performed onstage with the maestro at one point during his 
career. Among his many accomplishments, Dave Brubeck is credited with 
bringing an enthusiasm for jazz music to college campuses and an entire 
generation of young Americans. As a sign of his talents, Mr. Brubeck 
has been a performer at the White House two times, in 1964 and 1981. 
His passion for his music continues to this day, as he is still touring 
and releasing songs.
  For his many accomplishments, I join jazz supporters in the Nation's 
Capital and the Congress in paying tribute to David Brubeck on the 
occasion of the First Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in the 
District of Columbia.

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