Dave Brubeck: Improvisations and Compositions: The Idea of Cultural Exchange

The pianist and composer Dave Brubeck represents the idea of cultural exchange as a basis for musical inter-cultural communication. He commbines European concert music, as well as so-called non-European music, with acculturated jazz music. He also has a special interest in the integration of improvisation and composition. Occupying a large innovative space in Brubeck's sonoric harmonies are block chords, and, in the metric-rhythmic sphere, the «time experiments» with asymmetrical rhythms: «Essentially I'm a composer who plays the piano» (Brubeck). This book is a detailed survey of his improvisations, compositions and recordings.