David van Kriedt

Who was David van Kriedt?

David van Kriedt was a composer, saxophonist and music teacher.

While Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, became world jazz celebrities, the musician responsible for establishing their partnership

was American tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger David van Kriedt.

David was born in Berkeley, California, USA. He spent three years at Mills College in Oakland, California, studying composition with Darius Milhaud, and formed, with fellow students, The Jazz Workshop Ensemble. Later they became known as The Eight and subsequently the Dave Brubeck Octet. Mills College in 1946 was where eight young music students recorded Dave Brubeck's Curtain Music, the personnel for the Octet was, Brubeck – piano; Paul Desmond - alto saxophone; Dave Van Kriedt - tenor saxophone; Bill Smith - clarinet; Dick Collins - trumpet; Bob Collins - trombone; Jack Weeks - bass; Cal Tjader - drums.

The octet played only a few concerts in three years, as club owners were scared by the advanced non-commercial music. In three years at both San Francisco State and Mills College, van Kriedt became proficient in voice and practically every instrument. In 1950 with the same personnel, The Octet recorded an album that today is as fresh and exciting to hear as it was then. Van Kriedt was the most influential contributor to The Octet, both composing the majority of originals and arranging the standards for it. In fact in 1951 when Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was lecturing at U.C.L.A., he used van Kriedt’s composition ‘Fugue on Bop Themes’ to demonstrate to students the true art of counterpoint.