Factbox: Facts about jazz pianist Dave Brubeck

US-DAVEBRUBECK-FACTBOX:Factbox: Facts about jazz pianist Dave Brubeck

(Reuters) - Following are some facts about jazz Pianist Dave Brubeck, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91.

* Brubeck grew up in California wanting to be a rancher like his father and planned to be a veterinarian when he entered the College of the Pacific in Stockton. After a year, however, he switched his field of study to music.

* Brubeck was shipped to France during World War Two as an Army rifleman but, after a colonel heard him play piano, ended up in a band that performed for troops. He told Time magazine the band once unknowingly drove behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge.

* "Take Five," the Dave Brubeck Quartet's signature song from the landmark album "Time Out," was written by saxophonist Paul Desmond. It became one of the top-selling jazz songs of all time, and was also a hit on the pop music charts.

* Many of Brubeck's compositions had religious themes. He was born into a Presbyterian family but converted to Catholicism later in life.

* Brubeck studied under noted French composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California. Burt Bacharach and Philip Glass also were Milhaud students.

(Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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