Rainy Weekend Washes Out Plans for Brubeck Plaque Dedication

One of the great things to do on is put on a classic Dave Brubeck performance and listen, listen, listen.

Just take five.

This blustery weekend has washed away a bit of Concord history — the planned dedication of a plaque to take note of jazz legend Brubeck’s boyhood home.

The ceremony has been rescheduled for Sept. 10. It will include a reading from a long letter of Concord reminiscences from the famed pianist, said Lloyd Crenna, president of the Concord Historical Society, of which Brubeck is a member.

Brubeck, 90 years old, now lives in Connecticut.

Watch Patch for more details about the Brubeck event as the summer races by and Sept. 10 approaches. The house at 1965 Colfax St., just a block away from Todos Santos Plaza, is part of the complex of the First Presbyterian Church. The house is no longer there; the plaque is embedded in the sidewalk.

Brubeck is perhaps the most famous native son of Concord, growing up with a musical family. His mother, Elizabeth Ivey Brubeck, hailed from a pioneering family in Concord — her dad was Henry Ivey, who ran a livery stable in the horse and buggy days.

Elizabeth Ivey Brubeck was well known around town for giving piano lessons across the decades. The house contained a two-story studio with a balcony where many Concordians performed recitals, including the Brubeck family — Dave and two brothers, and his mother, said Kay Massone, secretary of the Concord Historical Society.

Brubeck left town as a teenager when the family moved to Lodi, but has maintained ties over the years. He gained recognition for his music at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. He helped establish Fantasy Records in Berkeley.

As the Dave Brubeck Quartet gained popularity, particularly in campus concerts around the country, Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1954. He achieved the next plateau of stardom when the quartet’s 1959 album, Time Out, went platinum, according to the Wiki website for Brubeck.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Brubeck sometimes returned to Concord in August to perform at the annual Concord Summer Festival, later called the Concord Jazz Festival, at Concord Boulevard Park, which has recently been renamed Dave Brubeck Park.

The festival was organized by a friend of Brubeck, the late Carl Jefferson of Concord, a jazz record producer. “He should be famous, too,” said Crenna.

Correction: The Concord historical Society rescheduled the event a second time to Sept. 10. An earlier version of this story listed the event Aug. 27.