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Darius
Brubeck is the Director of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music and
Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Natal, Durban. In 1983
he initiated the first degree course in Jazz Studies offered by an
African University.
Before 1983, Brubeck toured internationally with
Two Generations of Brubeck and The New Brubeck Quartet (Dave, Darius,
Chris and Dan Brubeck), made TV appearances and recorded for Atlantic
Records. In 1997 Telarc released "In Their Own Sweet Way" which
features Darius with his father and brothers.
Albums:
- Darius Brubeck & Deepak Ram - Gathering Forces Vol. 2
- African Tirbutes
- Darius Brubeck / Victor Ntoni - Afro Cool Concept
Brubeck
and Victor Ntoni formed Afro Cool Concept in 1989 and this band has
performed in the USA, Italy, Thailand and all over Southern Africa,
including
major festivals such as North Sea and the National Jazz festival, held
in Grahamstown. Bassist Bongani Sokhela replaced Ntoni in 1996, joining
South Africa?s premier alto saxophonist, Barney Rachabane and drummer
Lulu Gontsana in the group. Afro Cool Concept has just released "Still
on my Mind" for Sheer Sound.
Brubeck
has given workshops worldwide and performed in Istanbul, Peru and
Sweden with University based bands. One of these bands, Darius Brubeck
and the NU Jazz Connection featured South African trumpet player Feya
Faku. Both Afro Cool Concept and the NU Jazz Connection made recordings
for B & W Music (MELT 2000). Many of the members of the first
student band (The Jazzanians) that Brubeck took to the USA to perform
at the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference are now
well known in their own right, for example Zim Ngqawana.
Under
another band name Gathering Forces, Brubeck often plays with virtuoso
bansuri (Indian flute) player, Deepak Ram. Their premiere concert was
also released by MELT.In 1997 Gathering Forces received excellent
reviews at the ?Fin de Siecle? festival in Nantes. A new adaptation,
Darius Brubeck and Gathering Forces, performed especially composed
music at the ?World Conference against Racism? in September 2001 and
this presentation was broadcast on television worldwide. In 2002, Kofi
Annan and Heads of States attending the African Union conference in
Durban danced to South African jazz played by the Brubeck band.
Brubeck
has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, which played four of
his arrangements as part of a programme honoring his father's 70th and
75th birthday and he composed a piece especially for the 80th birthday
concert celebrations in December 2000, which has been released on CD
(LSO 0011).
In
1999/2000 Brubeck was on a Fellowship at the University of Nottingham
where he hosted a jazz concert series. He has presented jazz on national
radio and has worked for the development of jazz in South Africa as a performer, producer, educator and composer.
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