Dave Brubeck Quartet-Time Out

In College, my Friend(and fellow drummer) Mick was instrumental in expanding my interests in music and introduced some great jazz players and recordings. One of them he told me about was the polyrhythms of Joe Morello with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Hmmmm...sounded COOL to me. Over the past 20 years, this became the epitome of COOL piano jazz for me.

I had Mick dub off a cassette tape of Time Out for me. I would pop it in the deck occasionally. I loved the swinging simplicity of the quartet of piano, drums, sax and upright bass. Beyond the simplicity of the four piece is an intimate combo with time signatures that were beyond what I was used to in my obsession with Rock.

In the Summer of 97, My brother and I loaded in the car for a trek to Colorado for my niece's wedding. Part of our several treks to Colorado always seemed to include a stop in Loveland at the outlet stores to buy MORE MUSIC!! I remember on those treks listening to the Beatles(of course), Queen, the Police, Ben Folds Five and a bunch of others. But, I bought Dave Brubeck's Time Out as part of Columbia's Jazz Legacy Remasters series. During that weekend filled with tons of family time and interaction, I would sneak away to listen to this CD with headphones. It still is my go to "chill out/relax/Piano Jazz" CD.

It starts off with Blue Rondo A la Turk in 9/8 time. But, yet it lets me sit back and relax and it starts to swing nice and easy. It may have featured Dave Brubeck as band leader. But, this effort is definitely a band playing together. Paul Desmond on Sax that gives this recording added character with Eugene Wright on upright bass keeping everything grounded. Of course, it is Joe Morello's solo piece (in 5/4 time) Take Five that still has the legs of longevity that keeps this album going. This piece(written by Paul Desmond) is still used for commercials and movies. According to Wikipedia, "Upon his death in 1977, Desmond left the rights to royalties for performances and compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross, which has since received combined royalties of approximately $100,000 per year" Not too bad for a song written for a drum solo.

One of the movies I particularly love that features this song is "Pleasantville" where Jeff Daniels as the Diner owner starts painting in colors as you hear "Take Five" playing as the underlying score. I almost always listen to this album immediately after watching that scene or until the movie is over.

This is an album I keep on my MP3 player at all times and listen to it at least once a month.