Alper Presents Brubeck Research in Seattle

Garth Alper, professor of jazz and music media, recently gave a presentation in Seattle at the Popular Culture Association/American Cultural Association National Conference. The presentation, The Surprising Popularity of Dave Brubeck’s Music, was very well received and made for a very lively discussion with audience members afterwards. The paper examined how Brubeck brought some elements of twentieth-century European "classical" music into jazz to create an improbably popular vein of this American art form. Brubeck’s album, Time Out, released in 1959, became the first million-selling jazz album.

Dr. Alper also recently wrote an article for Overture Magazine, a publication of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. The article, which discusses the advantages of seeing jazz live, and offers suggestions on where to see it locally, can be found on page 16 in this issue of Overture.