Jazz Great Brubeck Is Getting Star Treatment

Dave Brubeck's alma mater, the University of the Pacific, has just formed a star-studded honorary board for its Brubeck Institute. Clint Eastwood will be chairman. (By Alastair Grant -- Associated Press)

If a musician's place in history can be gauged by the company he keeps, then Dave Brubeck's future seems to be forged in platinum.

One of the most popular jazz musicians of the past 50 years, Brubeck has never quite received the full measure of respect that his achievements deserve. But to give his legacy a boost, a star-studded honorary board has been formed at the Brubeck Institute at California's University of the Pacific, the alma mater of the noted pianist and composer.

Clint Eastwood, a longtime Brubeck fan and friend -- and one of the film world's biggest supporters of jazz -- will serve as chairman of the newly created body.

"Dave Brubeck is an American legend," Eastwood said in a statement. "He is an American original who continues to make significant contributions to music and introduced a whole new generation to the world of jazz."

Besides Eastwood, the board will include such luminaries as filmmakers George Lucas and Ken Burns; TV producer Norman Lear; musicians Herb Alpert, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis; and other figures from music and movies.

In addition, Eastwood -- who directed the 1988 Charlie Parker movie, "Bird," and composed the music for his films "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Mystic River" -- is taking the lead role in producing a new documentary about Brubeck's life. Director Bruce Ricker, who made a well-regarded film about jazz great Thelonious Monk, will trace Brubeck's career from his youth on a California ranch to his worldwide renown as a musician and proponent of human rights.

In the 1950s and '60s, Brubeck reached a then-unparalleled level of fame for a jazz musician, leading his quartet in innovative appearances on college campuses and in concerts behind the Iron Curtain and other places where few American groups had performed. He was also outspoken in his opposition to racial injustice, refusing to appear before segregated audiences.

Brubeck has hundreds of jazz, religious and classical compositions to his credit and, just 10 days ago, was officially designated a Living Legend of Jazz at a ceremony at the Kennedy Center. At that gala celebration, Brubeck and Marsalis received the evening's loudest ovation for their duet performance of "These Foolish Things."

The institute that bears his name at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., contains more than 1 million items associated with Brubeck and will be the eventual repository of all of his manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and private recordings. It is believed to be the nation's largest collection of artifacts from a single musician.