"Editor-in-chief of Down Beat from 1959 to 1962, Gene Lees recounted how, for a long time, "intimidated" by the number of potential contradicts, inclined to believe that he alone could not hold a truth rejected by the vast majority of his colleagues, he didn't have the guts to stand up to them and confess his respect for Bru's approach, cautiously confining himself to taking note, like everyone else, of his ability to compose. Until his friend Oscar Peterson, the pianist he placed above all others, told him that appreciating Dave's playing was the most legitimate attitude: a duty for anyone who knew how to listen. In The Man On The Buffalo Nickel, a portrait of Dave Brubeck published when he was still alive, Lees concludes: ""The public was right; the critics were wrong. Dave Brubeck, part Modoc Indian, is one of the great jazz musicians."" At least, he has become one, which is perhaps even more glorious.