Playing The Changes film dates 2024-25
The Darius Brubeck Quartet will appear ‘live’ in conjunction with this showing of a documentary film about Catherine and Darius Brubeck’s years in South Africa which is now showing at Film Festivals around the world. The film charts the couple’s transformational impact on the South African contemporary music scene as they set up the first jazz degree course in the country at the University of Kwazulu-Natal.
See the Film page for promotional videos, trailers and stills.
| Festival / Location | Date | Website |
| Jazz Film Festival, Wageningen, The Netherlands | November 2 | https://jazzfilmfestival.nl/ |
| Festival Internacional de Cine de Autor, Guadelajara, Mexico | November 21-24 | https://www.ficautor.com/ |
| Saint Augustine Film Festival, Florida, USA | January 10th, 2025 | https://capstone.hope.ac.uk/jazzfestival/ |
| Liverpool Jazz Festival film screening + Q&A | February 21st, 2025 | https://capstone.hope.ac.uk/jazzfestival/ |
| MillerComm Lecture Series, USA | April 23rd, 2025 | https://cas.illinois.edu/upcoming-events |
January 12th, 2025 – Camden Jazz Café
The Darius Brubeck Quartet will play Take Five and Dave Brubeck’s other inventive ‘time signature’ hits. In the South African half, the Quartet will be joined by two special guests: acclaimed trumpeter Byron Wallen, and original Jazzanian guitarist Andrew Eagle.
A slice of musical history lands at our venue for one night only, as the legacy of jazz legend Dave Brubeck is celebrated by his eldest son. Join us as we celebrate jazz history from two continents.
Line up
- Darius Brubeck – Piano
- Dave O’Higgins – Sax
- Matt Ridley – Bass
- Wesley Gibbens – Drums
- + Special Guests:
- Byron Wallen – Trumpet
- Andrew Eagle – Guitar
20-21 February 2025, Liverpool International Jazz Festival
The Darius Brubeck Quartet will play at the Liverpool International Jazz Festival on 20th February. The festival will give a screening of the film Playing the Changes on February 21st.
More information on both these events, the concert and the film
The Brubecks Play Live in Poland – article
This excellent article by Howard Lawes, published in Sandy Brown Jazz, explains the significance of Dave Brubeck’s tour of Poland in 1958 and Darius Brubeck’s follow-up tour 60 years later, with information about the history of jazz in Poland.
Here side by side are the original programme cover for Dave Brubeck’s 1958’s tour, and the album cover for Darius Brubeck’s 2018 follow up tour:
Playing The Changes – the film, September 2024
The Darius Brubeck Quartet will appear ‘live’ in conjunction with this showing of a documentary film about Catherine and Darius Brubeck’s years in South Africa which is now showing at Film Festivals around the world. The film charts the couple’s transformational impact on the South African contemporary music scene as they set up the first jazz degree course in the country at the University of Kwazulu-Natal.
See the Film page for promotional videos, trailers and stills.
| Festival | Date | Website |
| Music Imbizo | September 5th | https://www.themusicimbizo.co.za/ |
| Music Film Festival + Live performance by The Darius Brubeck Quartet – Tilburg (NL) | September 7th 19.00 | https://www.musicfilm.nl/programma/darius-brubeck-quartet/ |
| Film By The Sea Festival + Live performance by The Darius Brubeck Quartet – Vlissingen (NL) | September 8th Film 14.55, Concert 16.45 | https://www.filmbythesea.nl/voorstellingen/films/5462-the-darius-brubeck-quartet-live |
September 10th, DBQ at Stow on the Wold UK
The Darius Brubeck Quarted will give a concert at the Music at Stow Festival starting 7.30pm.
Online video courses with Darius Brubeck
Darius has collaborated with online music lessons website MusicGurus, Mike Rossi, Steinway and Schott publishing to create two innovative new online video lesson titles for pianists, and musicians playing any instrument. Click the images below for more information.
Harmony 101
In this online course recorded at Steinway Hall in London, Darius Brubeck takes you from the most fundamental information to understanding chord progressions, inversions, alterations & voicings.
Mastering odd times
Learn how to play in odd time signatures with Darius Brubeck and his band, featuring Mike Rossi. This course includes sheet music and a specially recorded backing track for “Take 5” for you to use in your own practice.
Darius Brubeck interviewed on Harmonious World
Darius is intereviewed by Hilary Seabrook for the Harmonious World blog, published on 6th May 2024.
Listen to it here
Playing The Changes – the film April 2024
A documentary film about Catherine and Darius Brubeck’s years in South Africa is now showing at Film Festivals around the world, see below for April dates and locations.
The film charts the couple’s transformational impact on the South African contemporary music scene as they set up the first jazz degree course in the country at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. A multicultural band calling themselves The Jazzanians grew out of the course in spite of the restrictions on racial mixing imposed by apartheid.
See the Film page for promotional videos, trailers and stills.
| Festival | Dates | Website |
| l’Europe autour de l’Europe Film Festival – Paris (World premiere) | April 8th | www.evropafilmakt.com |
| RiverRun Film Festival – North Carolina (American premiere) | April 22nd + 23rd | riverrunfilm.com |
| Beyond Hollywood International Film Festival – Los Angeles | April 27th at 11am | www.bhiff.org/2024-program |
Wednesday, April 3 – Saturday April 6 – Book readings
Darius & Catherine present readings and discussion of their book Playing the Changes: Jazz at an African University and on the Road to an international conference of jazz scholars.
Part of the Graz Jazz Encounters Conference
Saturday, 20 April Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival
Christ Church, Cricklade Street, David Knight Jazz Stage – music starts 14.00
The fourth Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival will be held at Christ Church in Old Town and its grounds.
Tuesday, 23 April – Saturday, 27 April, Bern
Darius Brubeck with his brothers Chris (bass & trombone), Dan (drums) and British saxophonist Dave O’Higgins, at Bern’s International Jazz Festival. More details and full programme
Shows at 7.30 and 9.30 nightly
Marian’s Jazz Room,
Hotel Innere Enge
Engestrasse 54
CH-3012 Bern
Schweiz
Dave Brubeck Collection Launches Digital Archive on International Jazz Day
This announcement is made on 30th April, on UNESCO’s International Jazz Day.
Today, one of the world’s premier jazz archives, The Brubeck Collection at Wilton Library (Wilton, CT), announced the launch of its enhanced and interactive digital archive, making the 22,000+ item collection catalog easily searchable and browsable online for the first time to everyone worldwide. This new digital archive also includes more than a thousand digitized photos, recordings, scores, and documents.
Explore The Brubeck Collection Here
Saturday, May 11: Jazz Cafe POSK
Jazz Cafe POSK, located in the basement of the Polish Social & Cultural Association, POSK, in Hammersmith, West London.
Tel. 0208 741 1940
More information www.jascafeposk.org Buy tickets via Evenbrite
Saturday, June 1, Jazz Entraigues Festival
Entraigues Sur la Sorgue, 84320, France
35 Place du 8 mai 1945
Gala evening with The Darius Brubeck Quartet, staring 9pm. More information and tickets
Film showing, June 6
The High Country Jazz Festival will show Playing the Changes, the film, on the opening night of its jazz festival at the Appalachian Theatre, Boone.
More information from their website, https://www.apptheatre.org/events-and-tickets/playing-the-changes
Sunday, July 7 – Saturday July 13: Classical Tahoe
Brubeck Jazz Summit with Chris and Dan Brubeck and guest artists
Roxy Coss & Lucas Pino
North Lake Tahoe
More information from classicaltahoe.org
Monday, August 12 Les Musicales de Cormeilles
The Darius Brubeck Quartet play at Les Musicales the Cormeilles-en-Pays-d’Auge.
8.30pm, Théâtre de Cormeilles, 7 place du Théâtre, 27260 Cormeilles, France.
Jazzwise praises The Darius Brubeck Quartet
Darius Brubeck, though he pays extensive tribute to his father’s compositions, is a different musician, an ethnomusicologist and emeritus professor. Since living in England he has toured regularly with the same band – Matt Ridley (bass), Wesley Gibbens (drums) and the elegant Dave O’Higgins on tenor. At Jazz Hastings, this highly accomplished, super-relaxed quartet presented a well-designed set notable for its varied time signatures: 7/4, 6/4, 5/4, 9/8; rhythmic variety made appealing listening, in a groove, neither stilted nor pretentious.
Brubeck’s South African years were acknowledged by a cover of Masekela’s ‘Nomali’. This version was edgier – O’Higgins and Brubeck’s inventions were more modern jazz, less African modal, than the original. The tune’s simple beauty evoked memories of Masekela, Pukwana, Feza, McGregor, Makeba – the whole South African sound legend transported to England away from prohibitive Apartheid.
The evocative ballad ‘Sea of Troubles’ was a performance highlight in the second sent. This two-chord alternator, in a gentle, undulating 7/4, leaves plenty of space for O’Higgins’ explorations, after a drum intro and Brubeck’s tumbling waves of notes. O’Higgins plays a mellow, breath-coated, Conn10M tenor (favoured by Benny Carter, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young), incorporating furry vintage jazz tones into his post-Coltrane phrasing. But the surprise of the evening was the choice of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ (recorded by the quartet back in 2008). The change of time signature, a 5/4 setting, brought to the tune an eerie ambience and unexpected swing.
An Abdullah Ibrahim tribute medley incorporated some of Ibrahim’s characteristic South African piano sounds. Tunes by Brubeck père included ‘Pick Up Sticks’, legendary spiky blues ‘Rondo a la Turk’ and inevitably, ‘Take Five’. All were faster, more up-beat, less Desmond, gloriously augmented. The encore was ‘Winter Wonderland’, oh-so-muzak nowadays, but this upbeat 5/4 version was a suitable finale to a fascinating and polished performance.
Victoria Kingham, February 2024