Dave Brubeck and White Middlebrow: A case study of Time Out

Abstract

My thesis investigates the tension between popular appeal and critical failure in Brubeck’s most flourishing years – during the ‘50s and early ‘60s – through the notion of “middlebrow” music. Middlebrow is a term originally used by cultural critics in the first half of the twentieth century to describe accessible cultural products that implement elements of high culture to fulfill the consuming aspirations of expanding middle-class audiences. In my thesis, I use Time Out as a case study in the broader discussion of Brubeck’s career and middlebrow culture.

Since middlebrow culture is a multifaceted phenomenon, I focus on one agent during each chapter. In order, these are Brubeck himself (as a middlebrow producer), cultural intermediaries (as tastemakers of middlebrow consumers), and Brubeck’s critics (which include both jazz critics and musicians). In the first chapter, I discuss Brubeck’s reliance on “legitimate” culture (European elitism), the accessibility of Time Out in relation to the dispositions of its white middle-class audiences, and Brubeck’s pioneering rhetoric in tandem with his privileges as a white musician. In the second chapter, I explain the mediation of his music and character in mainstream media and the legacy of Time Out in popular music outside the scope of jazz. In the last chapter, I discuss critics’ responses to Brubeck’s claims of innovation and commercial success to reassess his middlebrow locus in the context of mid-century modern jazz. Within the topics mentioned above, I re-evaluate articles, interviews, and reviews concerning Brubeck’s most controversial years using theories by Pierre Bourdieu, Amiri Baraka, and Ingrid Monson.

My thesis ends with some broad conclusions. I claim that affiliation with classical music, claims of innovation, and commercial privileges as a white musician were the three fundamentals that engendered the middlebrow conflict in Brubeck’s popular appeal and critical failure. Another conclusion is based on the impact of Brubeck’s middlebrow music beyond the scope of jazz. Concerning Time Out’s legacy in popularizing complex meters in various genres of popular music, I argue that Brubeck’s accessible formula is a significant example of middlebrow music’s power in expanding the boundaries of mainstream music.