He’s not the freight train that Art Blakey was, nor a Buddy Rich Formula One race car. Joe Morello is the kind of drummer whose talent knocks you down in stages. He joked, “I have won several prizes as the world’s slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness.” Desmond admired Parker and other bop musicians, but knew he could never be one. He was Charlie Parker’s favorite alto player. In a letter to his father he listed them: “beauty, simplicity, originality, discrimination, and sincerity.” His supple, mid-air twists still amaze, but he’s a giant because of the non-headlining gifts he prized above all others. He likened his own playing to a dry martini, and there’s never been a better description. “Take Five” was not only the Quartet’s biggest hit, it is still the biggest jazz single in history.ĭesmond’s tune, and his sound, epitomize the ice-smooth and pungent spice of his talent. And we can swing in 4, 3, 5, 7, 9, or anything. With Time Out, it’s as if Dave Brubeck were announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, there is only one rule in jazz. The album was a gauntlet slammed into the ground of jazz. These are beats you can’t dance to and can’t sing to, or so we’d think. “Blue Rondo à la Turk” in a crazily sliced 9/8 was born there, and so was Brubeck’s lasting popularity. On tour, he heard local musicians playing odd rhythms and decided right there that he’d make a jazz album employing unusual time signatures. It’s found in avant-garde music or in folk traditions tucked away in Hungary, India. “Take Five” added one little beat to the normal 4/4 pulse and made it 5/4, an unheard-of time signature for jazz. People like to look at faces, especially of celebrities, but there were no photos of the popular musicians greeting the public, just egg shapes and abutting slaps of color.īut the biggest risk, of course, was the music. No comforting “standards” were on it to reassure buyers wary of new music.įor another, the cover art was a contemporary, abstract painting. For one thing, it was a jazz album with nothing but original pieces. It broke many conventions in achieving that. Led by the hit single “Take Five,” written by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, Time Out was the first jazz album to sell a million copies. Brubeck’s face had been on the cover of Time magazine in 1954, Jailhouse Rock came out in 1957, and it would still be two years before the Quartet had its incandescent burst into the stratosphere-and into jazz history-with the release of Time Out. The Dave Brubeck Quartet was already one of the hottest ensembles in jazz in the ’50s, playing hundreds of concerts, and releasing multiple LPs, every year. “ Hollywood knows a good stereotype when it sees one, hick or slick, and “Brubeck” meant cerebral, cool, West Coast. Before that, this article talked about Time Out and why the signature and sound of Take Five was especially bold and unusual in 1959’s Jazz world: As I do with these features, I am going to source a couple of reviews. Even though the album is known for its famous hit, Take Five (which was actually written by Paul Desmond), there is so much to appreciate throughout the album. It is a masterpiece that still sounds breathtaking over sixty years since it was released. Even if you are not a Jazz fan, I would urge people to get the album on vinyl. Released in 1959 on Columbia Records, it was recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City. I am recommending the classic Time Out from The Dave Brubeck Quartet.
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