The Voice of Brubeck, Vol. 1

“The playing that takes place on LifeTimes — the wondrous combination of swing, melodic majesty, masterful arrangements and a truckload of truly inspirational solos — just adds a vibrancy and color to songs I thought I knew and loved on a deep level. It turns out that there was still plenty of depth I could have discovered. I just needed someone to point the way and that is exactly what these four gentlemen have done through LifeTimes.” – The Seattle Times

These versatile musicians also collaborate with or­chestras all across the United States as well as internationally, including performances with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra. With Chris Brubeck’s compositions as a vehicle, the BBQ has joined with chamber groups to collaborate with musicians from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra.

Although the Quartet’s style is rooted in “straight-ahead” jazz, their concerts reveal an inherent ability to explore and play odd time signatures while naturally integrating the influences of funk, blues, and world music. The group’s creativity, technique, and improvisation can be heard in their uncompromising music, which reflects their dedication to melody, rhythm, culture, and the spontaneous spirit of jazz.

Chris Brubeck is a GRAMMY®-nominated composer who continues to distinguish himself as a multi-faceted performer. A talented bassist and trombonist as well as an award-winning writer, Brubeck is tuned into the pulse of contemporary music. The respected music critic for The Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein, calls Brubeck: “a composer with a real flair for lyrical melody — a 21st Century Lenny Bernstein.” Brubeck has created an impressive body of symphonic work while maintaining a demanding touring and recording schedule with his various groups. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet for 16 years, and a frequent guest artist with the Quartet before and after that time period. He is a much sought-after composer, and his latest work, a double guitar concerto for blues and classical guitarists, commissioned by the Memphis Symphony, premiered to excited standing ovations in the fall of 2023.

Daniel Brubeck has toured the international music circuit as a drummer for more than five decades. He is the rhythmic force of the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, touring with his brother Chris, Mike DeMicco, and Chuck Lamb. He also tours the United Kingdom with the group Brubecks Play Brubeck, with brothers Darius (piano) and Chris, as well as Dave O’Higgins (saxophone) and plays with his Vancouver-based Dan Brubeck Quartet. Brubeck also enjoyed many years of performing and recording with his father, the legendary Dave Brubeck. As a featured soloist with many of the world’s top jazz artists and symphony orchestras, Brubeck’s original drumming style and use of odd-time signatures have earned him international acclaim. As a stylistically versatile musician, he’s toured and recorded with artists from various genres including the classic rock group The Band, pioneering blues guitarist Roy Buchanan, singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor, jazz guitar legend Larry Coryell, as well as with contemporary jazz artists David Benoit, singer Michael Franks, and traditional jazz artists Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond.

Mike Demicco has been guitarist and composer with the Brubeck Brothers Quartet for more than two decades. Demicco’s expansive embrace of music has led him to work with prominent artists in many genres, and he has toured the world extensively since 1980, performing and recording with a diverse cross-section of jazz, blues, and popular artists, including Dave Brubeck, Jack DeJohnette, Nick Brignola, Warren Bernhardt, Lindsay Webster, Lee Shaw, Rory Block, James & Livingston Taylor, and many others.

Chuck Lamb has been pianist for the Brubeck Brothers Quartet since 2002, and is not only an exciting and emotive pianist in his own right, but also a prolific composer of jazz, fusion, classical, and world music. Lamb is currently artist-in-residence for the popular monthly “Jazz at Caffe Lena” series in Saratoga Springs, where he has hosted and performed with guests such as Joe Locke, Chico Freeman, Dick Oattts, Vic Juris, and many more. One of Lamb’s mentors, the legendary Dave Brubeck, writes “Chuck is an extremely creative, harmonically interesting, rhythmically exciting pianist and one of the best improvisers I’ve heard in recent times!”

www.brubeckbrothers.com