Series generously supported by Merit Medical Systems
	Jazz Legend Brubeck, the Man Behind ‘Time Out,’ Is Too Busy to Take One Utah declares a day to honor husband-and-wife team, inseparable for six decades By Hilary Groutage Smith The Salt Lake Tribune At 81, Dave Brubeck is one of a kind, Besides a daunting daily schedule that includes a mix of recording, touring, practice and exercise, he remains a devoted family man in a world better known for icons who succumb to drugs, alcohol and the seamy side of life. “Oh yeah, I know other jazz musicians who have been married for 60 years, but not to the same woman,” Brubeck said in a telephone interview as his wife, Iola, sat a few feet away tapping out their autobiography on a computer. The two are inseparable. When they land in Salt Lake City to open the eighth Jazz at the Sheraton series Wednesday, both of them will be honored. Gov. Mike Leavitt is set to proclaim it Dave and Iola Brubeck Day in Utah. Gordon Hanks, co-founder of the Jazz at the Sheraton series, said organizers thought it was important to recognize the contributions Iola Brubeck as made to her husband’s career. “I don’t think anyone has ever done that, but we wanted to,” Hanks said. And the Brubecks are happy to oblige, because to make it in the jazz business, Brubeck said, you have to have an understanding wife. And a lot of energy. Does he ever get tired? “At my pace? Yes,” he said. But that doesn’t mean this jazzman stops. Brubeck’s style propelled jazz into popular culture in the 1950s and the 1960s with the release of “Time Out” in 1959. The recording contained immediate hits “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo à la Turk.” Since then, he has released about 150 other recordings and composed a vast body of work, including ballets, a musical, an oratorio, four cantatas, a mass, many works for jazz combo, and orchestra and solo piano pieces. For the Salt Lake City concert, Brubeck will bring a quartet. The Brubeck concert marks the beginning of the eighth year of the series that grew from Hanks’ and co-founder Michael MacKay’s simple love of jazz. “The series has really matured. We have learned that the more well-known artists are as easily accessible to us as the lesser-know artists. We keep a good balance,” Hanks said. Brubeck performs at Abravanel Hall to accommodate a larger crowd than could be seated at the Sheraton, Hanks said. The concert is a benefit for jazz education programs at the University of Utah. It will be a perfect match, since Brubeck has a long history of taking his music to college campuses. When he offers advice to young musicians, it’s simple: “I tell them jazz is a really hard way to make a living,” he said. And he tells them to practice, practice and practice some more. “I don’t practice as much as I would like, but I’m sitting here right now looking at an electric piano that is just waiting here for me. You know, it’s a drag to carry that thing all over the country, but I’m so glad I’ve got it.” The advice is direct, but the kids still love him, and so do their parents and grandparents. “We do just seem to attract kids and their grandparents and cross-cultural generations,” he said. Brubeck will come from California, where he has been teaching students at his jazz institute and preparing for a performance with his four sons at the Monterey Jazz Festival next month. Besides Brubeck, the 2002-03 series includes performances by the Joshua Redman Trio, Jeff Hamilton Trio, Russell Malone Quartet, vocalist Tierney Sutton, Kenny Barron Quintet Cantu Brazil, James Moody Quartet and Louis Nash Quartet. Bassist Ray Brown was scheduled for a January performance with his trio. Since his death last month, the space will be used instead for a tribute concert, Hanks said.