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

While Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck

David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...

 (born 1920) and Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...

 (born 1924, died 1977), became world Jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 celebrities, the musician responsible for establishing their partnership was American tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger David van Kriedt.http://www.puredesmond.ca/bru-91.htm

Dave spent three years at Mills College

Mills College

Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...

 in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, studying composition with Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...

 (1892 to 1974), and formed with fellow students “The Jazz Workshop Ensemble”. Later they became known as The Eight and subsequently the Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck

David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...

 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

Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...

 - Alto Saxophone; Dave Van Kriedt - Tenor Saxophone; Bill Smith - Clarinet; Dick Collins - Trumpet; Bob Collins - Trombone; Jack Weeks - Bass; Cal Tjader

Cal Tjader

Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. a.k.a. Cal Tjader was a Latin jazz musician, though he also explored various other jazz idioms. Unlike other American jazz musicians who experimented with the music from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, he never abandoned it, performing it until his...

 - 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, Dave 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

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

 was lecturing at U.C.L.A., he used Dave’s composition ‘Fugue on Bop Themes’ to demonstrate to students the true art of counterpoint.

In 1950 Van Kriedt, Brubeck and wife Iola and their sons, Cal Tjader

Cal Tjader

Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. a.k.a. Cal Tjader was a Latin jazz musician, though he also explored various other jazz idioms. Unlike other American jazz musicians who experimented with the music from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, he never abandoned it, performing it until his...

; Jack Weeks (bassist), all relocated to Honolulu for sometime before going their own separate ways once again.

In 1948 while still a Mills College student, Dave ventured to France where he recorded with Kenny Clarke’s Be Bop Minstrels. The music on this recording was listed under best album of the year. Dave fitted in very well with the exciting Paris Jazz scene, and had the opportunity to jam with Guitarist Django Reinhardt

Django Reinhardt

Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...

. While in Europe, Dave traveled to Norway to meet some family members and learnt that his maternal Grandfather, Ollie Clausen, an Organist had given music lessons to none other than Edvard Grieg (1843 –1907). Returning to Mills College in 1952 as an outstanding academic, Dave won first prize in Graduate Composition.

Stan Kenton Band

In 1955 Dave joined The Stan Kenton band on Tenor Saxophone and during his nine months with the band recorded one of Kenton’s most definitive albums “Contemporary Concerts”, featuring arrangements by Bill Holman and one by Gerry Mulligan. In this band Van Kriedt was fortunate to play with renowned musicians as Bill Perkins – Tenor; Lennie Niehaus and Charlie Mariano

Charlie Mariano

Carmine Ugo Mariano was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Cologne, Germany.-Biography:Mariano was the son of Italian immigrants....

 - both Alto; Don Davidson – Baritone; Carl Fontana - Bob Fitzpatrick – Kent Larson - Gus Chappell – Don Kelly -Trombones; Ed Leddy - Bobby Clark - Al Porcino – Sam Noto – Stu Williamson –Trumpets; Ralph Blaze-Guitar; Max Bennett – Bass and Mel Lewis

Mel Lewis

Mel Lewis was an American drummer, jazz musician and band leader. He was born Melvin Sokoloff in Buffalo, New York to Russian immigrant parents....

 – Drums. The album was recorded at Universal Studios in Chicago on July 22 1955. Dave toured throughout the United States and Canada and was the featured Arranger with the Band, appearing at such great jazz clubs as the Blue Note in Chicago and Birdland in New York City.

Dave Brubeck Reunion

The 1957 Dave Brubeck’s album REUNION was a Quintet session featuring eight Van Kriedt compositions.
Strolling, Shouts, Prelude, Divertimento, Chorale, Leo’s Place, Darien Mode and Pieta. Reunion features a full–voiced Van Kriedt on Tenor (with hand towel in sax bell, to mute his huge sound). Paul Desmond – Alto; Brubeck – Piano; Norman Bates

Norman Bates

Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho, and portrayed by Anthony Perkins as the main antagonist of the 1960 film of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock...

 - Bass and Joe Morello

Joe Morello

Joseph Albert Morello was a jazz drummer best known for his 12½-year stint with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. He was frequently noted for playing in the unusual time signatures employed by that group in such pieces as "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk"...

- Drums. Reunion displays Van Kriedt’s great skills both as soloist and composer.

Teaching

In 1985, van Kriedt lectured in Composition for a semester at the Northern Rivers CAE in Lismore, NSW, Australia. Students remember him as full of life and pushing them to explore their boundaries at every step.

Sources

"Dave Brubeck Remembers
Paul Desmond" -
The following is taken from a film interview recorded at the Montreal Jazz Festival,
June 28, 1991.
Producer/Interviewer: Paul Caulfield for Mirus Communications Inc. http://www.puredesmond.ca/bru-91.htm

Article published by Phil Wright (Jazz Journalist, Historian) http://www.jazzbacks.com/david-van-kriedt-article.html