Dave Brubeck (b. 1920) is a true rarity: a jazz musician who never compromised his music and yet has been very popular for 55 years. Throughout his career he has stuck to his original musical mission to explore polyrhythms (playing two or more rhythms and sometimes time signatures at once) and polytonality (improvising in two keys at the same time).

Brubeck had classical training early on from his mother and fooled her for a long time by memorizing his lessons and not learning to read music. He studied music at the College of the Pacific during 1938-1942 and was almost expelled when it was discovered that he still could not read music! That fault was eventually corrected.

Dave Brubeck served under General George Patton during World War II, leading a service band. In 1946 he started studying at Mills College with classical composer and mentor Darius Milhaud, an inspiration. Brubeck formed an octet with his fellow students that practiced often during 1946-1949 and recorded an album (The Dave Brubeck Octet) but rarely were able to score paying jobs in public. Their music was innovative and a bit radical, even for the bebop era, utilizing aspects of classical music in jazz and featuring some tricky time signatures a decade before anyone else in jazz had advanced beyond 4/4 and 3/4 time. Among Brubeck’s sidemen were altoist Paul Desmond, clarinetist Bill Smith, and drummer Cal Tjader.

In 1949, Brubeck formed a more conventional trio with bassist Ron Crotty and Tjader, who began doubling on vibes. The trio was popular and recorded for Fantasy (music now collected as The Dave Brubeck Trio), helping to launch the label. Brubeck might have continued in that direction except that he suffered a serious injury to his back while swimming and was out of action for many months.

Upon his return, Brubeck started teaming up with the cool-toned and witty altoist Paul Desmond. Their Fantasy recordings of 1951-53 (reissued as Stardust, Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond, Jazz at Oberlin, and Jazz at the College of the Pacific) contain plenty of magical interplay by Brubeck and Desmond in front of a quiet rhythm section. Desmond’s, airy sound and his swinging yet relaxed approach were a perfect foil for Brubeck’s dense and percussive chord voicings.

Due to creative ideas (including having the group booked on college campuses), the Dave Brubeck Quartet was a major hit by 1952. They signed with Columbia the following year, Brubeck appeared on the cover of Time magazine, and the quartet continued growing in popularity. In 1959 with the release of Time Out, which includes the original versions of “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo à la Turk,” everyone knew who Dave Brubeck was.

Although the Brubeck Quartet broke up in 1967, within a year Brubeck had a new unit featuring baritonist Gerry Mulligan and there were occasional reunions with Desmond until the altoist’s death in 1977.

During 1979-1987, Brubeck recorded eight albums for Concord. His sidemen on these excellent sets are tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi (for the first three albums) or clarinetist Bill Smith, Chris Brubeck on bass and bass trombone, and Butch Miles (on Back Home) or Randy Jones on drums. These recordings (Back Home, Tritonis, Paper Moon, Concord on a Summer Night, For Iola, Reflections, Blue Rondo, and Moscow Nights) are perhaps a bit underrated in Brubeck’s career but they find the pianist in prime form, clearly enjoying performing with these musicians. While Bill Smith sometimes hints at Paul Desmond’s lyricism, Jerry Bergonzi’s Coltrane-inspired tenor gives Brubeck’s group a different and equally stimulating texture.

Now 84, Dave Brubeck has continued tirelessly touring the world, writing new music and performing before large audiences, without compromising a note.