Legendary pianist and composer Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) was famous for his iconic recordings of jazz classics like “Take 5,” “In Your Own Sweet Way” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk.” But Brubeck had another musical side for which he was also greatly admired. He was a prolific composer of jazz-infused sacred choral works, including a mass he titled To Hope! A Celebration.
On Friday, July 11th the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Sacramento will present the Brubeck mass, performed by the Cathedral’s choir and orchestra, soloists, and a jazz trio including sons Chris and Dan Brubeck on bass and drums, and Sacramento’s own Joe Gilman on piano.
As far back as the l940’s, when he studied with renowned classical composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, Brubeck was blurring the lines between genres.
“That was always a part of his musical personality, mixing classical sensibilities and jazz sensibilities together,” explains Gilman. “So you hear that a lot in this piece. Some of it’s very classical sounding but in a modern sense. So of it sounds like you might be listening to maybe someone along the lines of Copland or Bernstein or something like that.”
Brubeck premiered To Hope! A Celebration in 1980 and recorded it for the first time later that year. He made a second recording in 1995 at Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
The 16-movement work combines the rhythmic vitality of jazz with the reverence of liturgical music as it moves back and forth between the choir, the orchestra, the soloists and the trio. Everyone on stage is reading from a musical score except for the trio. That's because when the spotlight shines on them, it’s all about improvisation. So, what does Gilman do at the piano in the meantime?
“I sit and await my turn to improvise something,” Gilman says with a chuckle. “Other than the fact Dave was the composer of it, that’s what he did in the performances as well. He would sit and listen and then interpret a little back and forth from the choir and improvise on certain harmonic sections of the piece.”
Gilman adds that improvising in this setting means taking a different approach than he would for a typical jazz solo.
“[It involves] stripping my normal vocabulary of bebop out of my improvisations and going more towards folk-like melodies, rhythmic melodies, somewhat bluesy I guess, and just having fun. But not so much in a Bud Powell-Oscar Peterson kind of vocabulary.”
When Chris and Dan Brubeck were considering who should join them on piano for the Sacramento concert, Joe Gilman was an obvious choice. Not only has he recorded two full CDs of Brubeck compositions, but Gilman also served as Musical Director at the Brubeck Institute in Stockton from 2005-2012 and was Artist in Residence from 2012-2014.
Perhaps the ultimate endorsement of Dr. Joe Gilman can be found in the comments of the jazz legend himself.
“One of our greatest teachers comes right from Sacramento,” Dave Brubeck told me in a 2008 interview. “Joe Gilman! The kids learn so much from him. He’s so brilliant.”
Gilman says he learned a lot from Dave Brubeck too … and not just about music.
“I don’t know if morality is the right word but he’s just a tremendous… was just a tremendous human being and great person to be around and an inspiration for me on how to present myself and function as a musician in this artistic world. Yeah, big inspiration that way, both personally and musically.
Pianist Joe Gilman joins bassist Chris Brubeck and drummer Dan Brubeck, vocalists Omari Tau and Jeanette Blakeney, and the Cathedral's Choir and Orchestra to perform Dave Brubeck's mass To Hope! A Celebration Friday, July 11, 2025 at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Sacramento.
