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While the Brubeck brothers, Chris and Dan, long ago established their own distinctive musical identities and moved out from under the huge shadow cast by their jazz giant of a father, Dave Brubeck, their grand patriarch’s loving presence is still felt as the brothers perform on stage nearly two years after his death at 91.

This connection sometimes kicks-in when Chris, a dynamic electric bassist, fiery bass trombonist and noted composer, and his younger brother Dan, a powerhouse drummer, are on stage jamming with their acclaimed Brubeck Brothers Quartet (BBQ), which performs at the Hartford Symphony “Pops! Series” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at Mortensen Hall at The Bushnell.

“Oh God, yes, I still feel Dave’s presence when we’re performing,” says Chris who collaborated closely with his father, both as a globetrotting performer and as a composer whose own contemporary classical works are played worldwide today by symphonic orchestras.

“I remember in our first concerts right after our father passed away, I was apprehensive about how I was going to feel about performing again. It’s one of those questions that you can’t answer intellectually. You only find out in the moment,” says Chris who was born in California and grew up in Wilton where he still lives with his wife and family. Chris is one of six siblings in the tight-knit Brubeck clan, which was headed for decades by Dave and his wife, Iola, a behind-the-scenes collaborator and lyricist who died earlier this year at 90.

“Sometimes I would go to announce something in that period after my father’s death, and I would get choked-up. Other times, I wouldn’t, although I’m getting a little choked-up just thinking about it right now. I don’t know why, but it’s just one of those things that hits you,” he says pausing for a moment.

“But overall,” he says resiliently, “the consistent feeling is that I feel really good that we’re playing Dave’s music. And, as clichéd as it may seem, we (the entire Brubeck family) feel empowered by the phrase: ‘He may be gone, but his music lives on.’ You really get that feeling, and that makes us feel good,” he says, his characteristic optimistic tone kicking right back in.

Both Chris and Dan — as well as their two also talented brothers, keyboardist Darius and cellist Matthew, make up the second generation of musical Brubecks who have contributed to the family dynasty established by their legendary founding father with a populist touch. As pianist, composer and bandleader, Brubeck and his celebrated Dave Brubeck Quartet (DBQ) sold millions of recordings, zealously spreading the good word about jazz around the world.

While both Chris and Dan, a drummer in the classic mode of Dave’s master time keeper, percussionist Joe Morello, have enjoyed diverse careers, at first with their famous father as youngsters and later on their own as adults, they have enjoyed a successful and creatively challenging, long run with their own worthy quartet, the BBQ, with its acronymic echo of their dad’s DBQ.

Over the past dozen years — a lifetime by jazz world standards — the BBQ has enjoyed the luxury of maintaining the same personnel in its lineup. A tight foursome, it features Chris and Dan joined by what they call the “honorary Brubeck brothers,” pianist Chuck Lamb, who despite his meek sounding surname is a lionhearted, percussive player, and guitarist Mike DeMicco, a onetime rocker much at home with modern mainstream jazz.

The BBQ has been on a hot winning-streak since its 2012 release “LifeTimes,” its homage to Brubeck, pere, which did quite well on the jazz charts while also basking in critical acclaim.

“We knew that Dave was ill and was getting weaker and his death seemed imminent,” Chris recalls, “so we wanted to pay tribute to his music and let him know how much we loved him while he was still with us. And that feeling was coming not just from Dan and me, but also from Chuck and Mike.”

“Dave loved it, and had a big grin on his face when he listened to the music. And we’re so glad that we did that,” Chris says of the tribute album, done with not just due reverence to the creations of the father, but also in celebration of the sons’ signature artistry.

Besides chart success, the BBQ’s art has enjoyed triumphs at top jazz festivals, including Newport and the Playboy Jazz Festival, swinging sometimes on its own, sometimes with symphony orchestras, grooving on its rich mix of Dave Brubeck classics, like “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” and “In Your Own Sweet Way,” as well as with originals by BBQ members.

So the BBQ, says Chris, is in high-gear as it rolls into Hartford to play a pops concert with the HSO at The Bushnell. It will play selections from “LifeTimes,” he says, as well as surprises that help keep the Brubeck legacy alive and well. Chris, in a personal aside, says he’s especially proud that the BBQ and the HSO will perform an original jazz waltz that he composed and arranged for his wife, Tish, “We’re Still in Love After All These Years.”

What makes the BBQ work, Chris says, is an underlying democratic spirit that encourages both individual and collective expression among all four players. Plus, he says, there’s a will to bring fresh approaches to even the most familiar material like “Take Five,” alto saxophonist Paul Desmond’s mega-hit whose 5/4 time signature made it a universal anthem for the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet, featuring Dave on piano, Desmond on rhapsodic alto, Eugene Wright on bass and Morello, a dynamo drummer who made even the most outlandish, complex time signature swing.

“When we make a record,” Chris says to illustrate his point about the BBQ’s esprit de corps, “we kick ideas around until we have an agreement. So it’s sort of like a four-headed monster,” he says jokingly, using “monster” in its antithetical jazz sense as meaning “terrific”

Tickets for the Brubeck Brothers Quartet with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra at the “Pops! Series” concert range from $22.50 to $64.50. Tickets and information: www.hartfordsymphony.org and 860-987-5900.