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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review December 11, 2012/ 27 Kislev 5773

Time out --- take five with the Brubeck Jazz Quartet

By Paul Greenberg




http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Dave Brubeck wasn't just a goodwill ambassador abroad with his music and manner, but at home. No one who ever met him left without a good feeling -- and a good story. Here's one:

It was long ago when she was a bright girl from deep in the heart of Texas, but every night thanks to the miracle of AM radio, she could hear broadcasts from across the country, and now and then a different kind of music would burst through the static. Was it on KMOX out of St. Louis or WWL in New Orleens-Land-of-Dreams that she first heard the Dave Brubeck Quartet?

Anyway, her protective father insisted the young lady give his alma mater at Austin a try -- he'd been a drum major there circa 1925 -- before heading up East to Smith. That's where she heard that Dave Brubeck and his band were going to appear in Dallas. And had to go.

Forbidden to take her little roadster beyond the Austin city limits, she rode a Greyhound to Dallas to make the show, arriving hours early at the hall. Coming out to rehearse, Mr. Brubeck noticed her waiting back in the auditorium, signaled the young lady to come up and take a front-row seat, and made sure she was comfortably settled. So she got a concert before the concert. She thought about the concert(s) all the way back to Austin on the night bus till dawn. The memory would last a lifetime.

That's who Dave Brubeck was, on and off the stage. There was a wide-open Western way about him that was no respecter of age, class and certainly not the musical conventions of his time. He was, in short, California as it used to be: the golden future. Even if, with the news of his death last week a day short of 92, it's now the golden past.

He had this idea, Dave Brubeck did, that the sophisticated themes that informed his own music -- contrapuntal, cool, sure but somehow tentative, like all great explorations -- would intrigue everybody else, too. His recording company tried to tell him his stuff wouldn't go over in This Day and Age, which was the day and age of the three-minute pop single.

Progressive jazz, his producers tried to explain, was becoming just a niche occupied by hobbyists and nostalgists. Nobody else was much interested, and they certainly wouldn't be drawn to his new take on it, with that fifth beat he added to the standard 4/4 measure of American jazz.

Oh, he might be popular on the San Francisco jazz circuit, but this was the real world, man. Nevertheless, he insisted and, what th' heck, he'd been a loyal client, and so they indulged him and let him record his little number.

"Time Out" would become the first American jazz album to sell a million copies. For once, contrary to Mr. Mencken, it had paid to over-estimate the taste of the American public. To this day, "Time Out," with its signature track, "Take Five," stands alongside Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" as American music's equivalent of Europe's classical symphonies, our own Bach and Mozart. It would take its place next to Gershwin's greatest hits as part of the country's musical legacy.

Dave Brubeck proved the perfect choice when Dwight Eisenhower was looking for someone to win hearts and minds in the Cold War. That president was no musician, but having liberated a continent, and ended another war in Asia (on the Korean peninsula), he was determined to keep the Cold War safely cold, and win it at the same time. What better way to do both than enlist the distinctively American music -- jazz -- in the effort? And the distinctly American musician who had revived and refined jazz in his time, making it popular once again? It was the perfect way to let freedom ring all around the Iron Curtain, and remind the world of the dull gray slave empire that lurked behind it.

To quote Mr. Brubeck's long-time manager, Russell Gloyd: "Eisenhower wanted to take the best of America and do a peripheral tour of the Soviet Union." And so the Dave Brubeck Quartet would embark on a world tour in 1958 that took it to Poland, Turkey, India, Pakistan (East and West), Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Freedom rang around the globe. Music can say things no speech can.

Much the same happened in 1988, when Brubeck performed for Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev at their summit in Moscow. These cultural exchanges were a win-win for America, a sure lose-lose for the Soviets. For their best artists (Rostropovich and Baryshnikov --ah, the young Baryshnikov!) would soon defect while ours would make freedom sound irresistible. Just as it does in Dave Brubeck's music -- with its fine, always new balance between order and liberty. Not unlike that of the U.S. Constitution.

Paul Greenberg Archives

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