Brubeck was studying to be a vet (his father was a California stockman), but he had already been won over by playing jazz on the piano, and he quit those ambitions to lead a band before serving in the army. In 1946 he began studying with Milhaud, and founded an octet which made its first records in 1948, an interesting mix of bop, swing and neoclassical styles. Brubeck then set out to do trio work before adding Paul Desmond (who had previously stolen some of Brubeck's sidemen) to make up the quartet which, almost from the word go, was a success on the American college circuit: a record such as Jazz At Oberlin (1953) shows how much enthusiasm the band generated in concert. Columbia poached him away fom Fantasy and Brubeck even turned up on the cover of Time. By 1957, when the quartet included Gene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums, they were arguably the most popular jazz small group in America, namechecked by Mort Sahl and marketed as the first thing in modern music. The contrast between Desmond's airy, thin-lipped sound and Brubeck's bouncing attack was one draw; the other was the sense of composerly adventure which the leader seemed set on, with his oddball time-signatures and snippets from classical procedure. Some critics were unimpressed by what they saw as unswinging art, but time has softened such hostility, and there is surprisingly little rote music in any of Brubeck's stack of Columbia albums (many of which, inexplicably, have yet to make it to CD reissue). Desmond, who wrote the million-seller Take Five, wasn't always pleased at the attention on the leader, although his royalty cheques consoled him. Besides, Blue Rondo A La Turk, Unsquare Dance and It's A Raggy Waltz are at least as effective in exploring the group's identity.

By 1967 the group was disbanded, and the leader chose to concentrate more on composition, but he soon founded a new trio and had Gerry Mulligan and, less frequently, the returning Desmond as regular guests. His sons Darius, Chris and Daniel helped make up a family group, and latterly a fourth son, Matthew, has also joined in the fun. By the 80s the quartet was a touring favourite once again, and Brubeck embarked on new recording contracts for Concord (1979–87) and Telarc (1992 up to the present), the albums emerging at regular intervals and none of them without fresh interest. In his 80s, he has been as prolific as ever: by now his opuses include ballets, oratorios, a mass and some chamber music, in addition to hundreds of jazz compositions. Little of this has been covered by anyone else – In Your Own Sweet Way and The Duke are about the only Brubeck tunes which get much attention elsewhere – but together they make up a profound lifetime in music-making, which has received many honours down the years.

Biography from Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia (2005).

If you'd like more information, check out The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2002) or The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (2007), both of which are still in print.