The story behind puzzle No. 2
The Dave Brubeck Quartet · Time Out · Columbia · 1959
Count it: one two three, four five. Take Five is in a meter almost no popular song had used, and it became one of the best-selling jazz singles ever made.
Take Five appeared on Time Out, an album the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded for Columbia in the summer of 1959. The whole record was an experiment in unusual time signatures. Blue Rondo à la Turk is in 9/8, and Take Five is in 5/4. Columbia agreed to release it only after the band first recorded a more conventional album. Time Out became the first jazz album to sell a million copies.
Brubeck led the band, but Take Five was written by his alto saxophonist, Paul Desmond. Drummer Joe Morello often soloed in 5/4 and wanted a tune that would show it off. When Desmond died in 1977, he left the royalties from his compositions, Take Five included, to the American Red Cross.
The piano vamp never stops. Brubeck plays the same two-chord pattern under most of the track, which gives the 5/4 time a steady rock that makes it feel natural instead of awkward. Over it, Desmond's alto sound is dry and light, almost like a whisper. Then Morello takes a drum solo that keeps the five-beat pulse going even while he plays around it.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play Blue Rondo à la Turk next and try to count along. The switch between 9/8 and a swinging 4/4 is the whole joke.
As an Amazon Associate, Liner Note earns from qualifying purchases.