Although the music scene was initially reluctant to sample Dave Brubeck's innovative jazz, the genre legend scored commercial success with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and continues to remain the leading force in jazz music.

Brubeck's talent was first introduced to his mother, whom he fooled by memorizing her classical music lessons rather than by actually learning to read music, before studying music at the College of the Pacific in the late 1930s into the early ‘40s. During World War II Brubeck led a service band in General Patton's Army before studying with classical composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College in 1946. Brubeck recorded with fellow students as the Dave Brubeck Octet until in 1949; the group's music was released on Fantasy in 1951 and is still considered revolutionary, even by today's standards. The radical nature of the octet resulted in minimal work, so Brubeck formed a trio with bassist Ron Crotty and drummer Cal Tjader. Altoist Paul Desmond made the trio a quartet in 1951 after they secured popularity in the Bay Area for their Fantasy recordings (released in 1949-1951) and Brubeck took a few months hiatus after a back injury.

The combination of Desmond's alto and Brubeck's experimental chording proved a surprise success and the group rotated drummers for Joe Morello and bassist Eugene Wright. The successful Fantasy recordings were followed by some winning Columbia releases and Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time in 1954. The Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded in 1967 after a heavy touring schedule but re-emerged a few more times with Gerry Mulligan in tow and even reconciled with Desmond before his death in 1977. The 1970s also saw Brubeck joining his sons Darius (keyboards), Chris (electric bass and bass trombone) and Danny (drums) in Two Generations of Brubeck, and the ‘80s saw the Brubeck Quartet performing with clarinetist Bill Smith and altoist Bobby Militello. Whatever the incarnation, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released a string of successful albums for Fantasy, Columbia, Concord and Telarc that are still fresh in the jazz community today, where Brubeck's compositions remain relevant into the new millennium.