"Take Five"
Single by Dave Brubeck Quartet
from the album Time Out
B-side"Blue Rondo à la Turk"
ReleasedSeptember 21, 1959 (1959-09-21);
May 22, 1961 (reissue)
RecordedJuly 1, 1959
StudioCBS 30th Street, New York City
GenreWest Coast cool jazz
Length
  • 2:55 (single version)
  • 5:28 (album version)
LabelColumbia 4-41479
Composer(s)Paul Desmond
Producer(s)Teo Macero
Dave Brubeck Quartet singles chronology
"Jazz Impressions of Eurasia"
(1958)		 "Take Five" / "Blue Rondo à la Turk"
(1959)		 "Camptown Races" / "Short'nin' Bread"
(1959)

"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.[1][2] Frequently covered by a variety of artists, the track is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

Dave Brubeck was inspired to create an album based on odd time signatures during his state sponsored 1958 Eurasia trip. The track was written after the Quartet's drummer, Joe Morello, requested a song in quintuple (5
4) meter. Desmond composed the melodies on Morello's rhythms while Brubeck arranged the song. The track's name is derived from its meter. The track is written in E♭ minor and is in ternary (ABA) form.

Released as a promotional single in September 1959, the track would not achieve commercial success until it became a sleeper hit in 1961. "Take Five" went on to become the biggest-selling jazz single of all time and still receives significant radio airplay.

Background and recording

The Dave Brubeck Quartet's U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia in 1958 inspired Dave Brubeck to create an album, Time Out, that experimented with odd time signatures like he had encountered abroad.[3][4][5] "Take Five" was composed after most of the album's music had been written.[3] The Quartet's drummer, Joe Morello, frequently soloed in 5
4 time and asked Brubeck to compose a new piece to showcase his ability.[3][6] Brubeck delegated Desmond to write a tune using Morello's rhythm.[6] Desmond composed two melodies,[lower-alpha 1] which Brubeck arranged in ternary form.[8]

The Quartet first tried recording "Take Five" on June 25, 1959.[1] It proved so arduous that, after 40 minutes and more than 20 failed attempts, producer Teo Macero suspended the effort because one or another of the members kept losing the beat.[9] This iteration of the song used a different rhythmic groove than the final version; it was "driving and fast" with a "lopsided Latin rhythm".[10] They successfully recorded the single and the album track in two takes at the next session on July 1.[1][9] Desmond considered the track a "throwaway".[3] The Quartet first played "Take Five" for a live audience at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 5, 1959.[11]

Composition

"Take Five" is written in the key of E♭ minor,[12] in ternary (ABA) form[8] and in quintuple (5
4) time. According to Alfred Publishing's sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, the song has a moderately fast tempo of 176 beats per minute.[12] The song is known for its distinctive two-chord piano/bass vamp (E♭m-B♭m7), cool jazz saxophone melodies, drum solo,[lower-alpha 2] and unorthodox meter, from which Dave Brubeck derived its name.[3][13] Desmond believed the borderline decision to retain his bridge melody was key to the tune gaining popularity.[14]

Rhythmically, the five beats to the bar are split unevenly into 3 + 2 quarter notes; that is, the main accents (and chord changes) are on the first and fourth beats. The album version has ten sections:[15][16]

SectionDescription
IntroDrum enters, joined by piano after 4 bars and bass after 8 bars to set up 5
4 rhythm with syncopated two-chord (E♭m–B♭m7) vamp
AAAlto sax plays main melody (A), based on E♭-minor hexatonic blues scale,[lower-alpha 3] in two similar 4-bar phrases
BBAlto sax plays bridge melody (B), based on G♭-major scale, in two similar 4-bar phrases
AAReprise
Solo 1Alto sax plays improvised modal[17] solo, based on E♭-minor hexatonic blues scale,[lower-alpha 4] over vamp[lower-alpha 5]
Solo 2Drum fades in playing improvised solo, halfway through which the vamp abruptly crescendoes before fading down to near-silence as solo ends
AAReprise, cued by intro vamp played softly before alto sax swiftly rejoins with main melody
BBReprise
AAReprise
TagAlto sax plays repeated 4-note riffs from main melody, ending with final note sustained for 3 bars over vamp

Release and chart success

Paul Desmond (1954)

Although released as a promotional[18] single on September 21, 1959,[lower-alpha 6] "Take Five" became a sleeper hit in 1961. In May 1961, the track was reissued for radio play and jukebox use,[19] partly in response to its heavy rotation on the radio station WNEW in New York City.[20] That year, it reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 (October 9),[21][lower-alpha 7] No. 5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart (October 23)[22] and No. 6 on the UK Record Retailer chart (November 16).[23] In 1962, it peaked at No. 8 both in the New Zealand Lever Hit Parade (January 11)[24] and the Dutch Single Top 100 (February 17).[25] The single is a different recording from the LP version and omits most of the drum solo.[26] It became the first jazz single to surpass a million in sales,[27] reaching two million by the time Brubeck disbanded his 'classic' quartet in December 1967.[28]

Columbia Records quickly enlisted "Take Five" in their doomed launch of the 33+1⁄3-rpm stereo single in the marketplace. Together with a unique stereo edit of "Blue Rondo à la Turk", they pressed the full album version in small numbers for a promotional six-pack of singles sent to DJs in late 1959.[29]

News of Brubeck's death on December 5, 2012 rekindled the popularity of "Take Five" across Europe, the single debuting in the Austrian Top 40 at No. 73 (December 14)[30] and the French Singles Chart at No. 48 (December 15)[31] while re-entering the Dutch charts at No. 50 (December 15).[25]

Chart performance for "Take Five"
Chart Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 25
US Billboard Easy Listening[22] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[32] 6
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[24] 8
Australia (Kent Music Report)[33] 7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[34] 8
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[35] 73
France (SNEP)[36] 48

    Future within the Quartet

    The saxophonist, Desmond, wrote and recorded the similar-sounding (and similarly named) composition "Take Ten" for his 1963 solo album Take Ten;[37] he released another rendition of "Take Ten" on his 1973 album Skylark. Over the next 50 years the group re-recorded it many times, and typically used it to close concerts: each member, upon completing his solo, would leave the stage as in Haydn's Farewell Symphony until only the drummer remained ("Take Five" having been composed to feature Morello's mastery of 5
    4     time).[38][3][39] Upon his death from lung cancer in 1977, Desmond left the performance royalties for his compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross,[40][41] which has since received payments averaging well over $100,000 a year.[42][43]

    Legacy

    Take Five was positively received both in its release and current times and is the biggest-selling jazz single of all time.[38][44] In 2020, The New York Times called the standard "among the most iconic records in Jazz".[1] The single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996.[45] It has received subsequently replay in movie and television soundtracks,[46] giving it continued radio airplay.

    Covers and adaptations

    "Take Five" is considered a jazz standard[3] and has been covered many times in a variety of genres.[47] The first known cover was by Carmen McRae on the 1961 live album Take Five Live, supported by Brubeck, Gene Wright and Morello.[48][49] For the recording, McRae sang lyrics written by Brubeck's wife Iola; these lyrics would later be used for other vocal recordings.

    Jamaican saxophonist Val Bennett covered the song in 1968 in a roots reggae style, in 4
    4     time, and retitled "The Russians Are Coming".[50] Bennett's version became the theme of British television series The Secret Life of Machines in the late 1980s. Al Jarreau recorded an acclaimed scat version of the song for NDR Television in Hamburg, West Germany on October 17, 1975.[51] Moe Koffman recorded a cover for his 1996 album Devil’s Brew. In 2011, a version by Pakistan's Sachal Studios Orchestra won widespread acclaim and charted highly on American and British jazz charts.[52] Canadian animator Steven Woloshen created the 2003 animated short film Cameras Take Five, which animated an improvised series of abstract lines and figures set to the song.[53]

    English smooth jazz duo Acoustic Alchemy included a cover of the song in their 1990 album Reference Point. Their version - played on acoustic guitar - has a slow reggae-like tempo and is a popular number on smooth jazz radio stations playlists.

    Track listing

    Take Five / Blue Rondo à la Turk (1959)
    No.TitleLength
    1."Take Five"2:50
    2."Blue Rondo à la Turk"2:59

    Personnel

    Notes

    1. ↑ Desmond's second, bridge melody converts the first five notes of the song "Sunday, Monday, or Always" (a 1943 chart-topper for Bing Crosby) into a rhythmically-altered four-note hook,[7] repeated during a four-bar chord progression that descends diatonically (C♭7-B♭m7-A♭m7-G♭7).
    2. ↑ Featured in the album version but not the single.
    3. ↑ With one added note, F♮.
    4. ↑ With two extra notes, F♮ and C♮. By contrast, Crist (2019) classifies Desmond's solo as based on the B♭-minor Aeolian scale[17] with one added note, A♮ (the 'blue note' of the E♭-minor hexatonic blues scale).
    5. ↑ There is an edit in the album track at 2:00 (4 bars after the saxophone solo ends), perhaps to remove a piano solo or to splice the two best solos together.[11]
    6. ↑ Almost three months before its parent album Time Out was itself released.
    7. ↑ Its parent album Time Out, likewise reissued in 1961, peaked on November 27 that year at No. 2 on the Billboard Monaural LPs chart (behind only Judy at Carnegie Hall by Judy Garland).

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Russonello, Giovanni (2020-12-07). "'Take Five' Is Impeccable. 'Time Outtakes' Shows How Dave Brubeck Made It. – An album of previously unheard recordings from the "Time Out" sessions in 1959 reveals the making of a masterpiece". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-04-25. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
    2. ↑ Schudel, Matt (2012-05-12). "Dave Brubeck, 'Take Five', and his longtime collaborator credited with the jazz legend's biggest hit". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2015-07-23.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sarabia, Tony (2000-11-19). "The Story Of Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five'". NPR.org. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
    4. ↑ Kaplan, Fred (2009). 1959: The Year that Changed Everything. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-0-470-38781-8.
    5. ↑ Schudel, Matt (2008-04-06). "Ambassador of Cool". washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
    6. 1 2 Ramsey, Doug (2005-02-01). Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. Seattle: Parkside Publications. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-9617266-7-6.
    7. ↑ Giddins, Gary (2018-10-30). Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star: The War Years, 1940–1946. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-41235-3. Archived from the original on 2023-03-10. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
    8. 1 2 Ramsey, Doug (2005-02-01). Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. Seattle: Parkside Publications. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-9617266-7-6. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
    9. 1 2 Stephen A. Crist (2019-09-04). Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Oxford University Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-19-021771-6.
    10. ↑ Alberge, Dalya (2020-02-08). "Take one: lost Dave Brubeck tapes reveal jazz hit originally sounded like 'a bad student band'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
    11. 1 2 Clark, Philip (2020-02-18). Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0-306-92165-0.
    12. 1 2 Brubeck, Dave; Paul, Desmond. "Take Five Sheet Music (Digital Download)". Musicnotes.com. Derry Music Corporation.
    13. ↑ Canter, Andrea (2008-05-20). "Take "Time Out" for Dave Brubeck: At Orchestra Hall, May 25th". Jazz Police. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
    14. ↑ Ramsey, Doug (February 1, 2005). Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. Seattle: Parkside Publications. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-9617266-7-6.
    15. ↑ Lawn, Richard J. (2013). Experiencing Jazz. Routledge. p. 237. ISBN 9781135042684.
    16. ↑ Barnes, Austin Lee (2012). Analysis of selected percussion literature: Concerto for vibraphone and orchestra by Ney Rosauro, Surface tension by Dave Hollinden, Urban sketches for percussion trio by Lon W. Chaffin, "Take Five" by Paul Desmond, and DT supreme by Austin Barnes (PDF) (Report). Manhattan, Kansas: Kansas State University. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17.
    17. 1 2 Crist, Stephen A. (2019-09-04). Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Oxford University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-19-021773-0.
    18. ↑ Crist, Stephen A. (2019-09-04). Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Oxford University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-190-21772-3.
    19. ↑ Crist, Stephen A. (2019-09-04). Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-190-21772-3.
    20. ↑ "Best Selling Jazz Albums". Billboard. 28 April 1962. p. 12. ISSN 0006-2510.
    21. 1 2 "Dave Brubeck Chart History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
    22. 1 2 "Dave Brubeck Take Five Chart History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-19. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
    23. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 50 1961". Officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
    24. 1 2 "Lever Hit Parade – 11 Jan 1962". Flavour of New Zealand. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
    25. 1 2 "Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
    26. ↑ Schaap, Phil (1999). Soundtrack to a Century – Jazz: The Definitive Performances (Liner notes). Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia/Legacy. J2K 65807.
    27. ↑ Tawney, Raj (2019-12-13). "The Dave Brubeck Quartet's 'Time Out' at 60: Inside Jazz's First Million-Selling LP". billboard.com. Archived from the original on 2020-03-15. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
    28. ↑ Feather, Leonard (1967-07-30). "The End of an Era in Modern Jazz". Los Angeles Times.
    29. ↑ Callahan, Mike (2016-02-13). "The Stereo Singles Project, Part 2: Stereo-33 Singles Discography (1959–1964)". bsn.com. Both Sides Now Publications. Archived from the original on 2020-02-10. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
    30. ↑ "Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
    31. ↑ "Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
    32. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
    33. ↑ "AMR Top Singles of 1961". Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
    34. ↑ "Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
    35. ↑ "Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
    36. ↑ "Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five" (in French). Les classement single.
    37. ↑ Zimmerman, Brian (November 25, 2019). "Song of the Day: Paul Desmond – "Take Ten"". Jazziz. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
    38. 1 2 "Dave Brubeck". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
    39. ↑ Thursby, Keith (2011-03-14). "Joe Morello dies at 82; jazz drummer for Dave Brubeck Quartet". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
    40. ↑ Gioia, Ted (2012-09-27). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. Oxford University Press. p. 419. ISBN 9780199937400. When Paul Desmond passed away in 1977, his will stipulated that royalties form this song and his other compositions go to the American Red Cross. Since then, the Red Cross has received more than $6 million from Desmond's bequest.
    41. ↑ Lees, Gene (1995-12-21). Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White. Oxford University Press. p. 55.
    42. ↑ Doyle, Brian (2004-01-25). Spirited Men: Story, Soul & Substance. Lanham, MD: Cowley Publications. p. 90. ISBN 9781461733034. The proceeds from his compositions and from his recordings were sent to the American Red Cross, which now earns more than $100,000 a year from his music. In the twenty-four years since his death, Paul Desmond has given the Red Cross more than three million dollars.
    43. ↑ "Paul Desmond – Celebrating a Legacy of Music and Compassion". American Red Cross. 2005. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
    44. ↑ Kniestedt, Kevin (28 November 2011). "The Mix: 100 Quintessential Jazz Songs". NPR. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
    45. ↑ Barnes, Erin Carlson,Mike; Carlson, Erin; Barnes, Mike (2012-12-05). "Legendary Jazz Musician Dave Brubeck Dies at 91". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-03-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    46. ↑ Alatorre, Michael (2016-03-19). "Same Song, Different Movie: Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet". le0pard13.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
    47. ↑ "Watch an Incredible Performance of "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1964)". Open Culture. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
    48. ↑ Ted Gioia (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. Oxford University Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-19-976915-5.
    49. ↑ "Dave Brubeck Discography". jazzdisco.org. Free Software Foundation. 2001. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
    50. ↑ Thompson, Dave (2002) Reggae & Caribbean Music, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-655-6, p. 392
    51. ↑ Meeker, David (2019-04-29). "NDR Jazz Workshop 1975". Loc.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
    52. ↑ Walsh, Declan (2011-08-05). "Jazz album by Pakistan music veterans storms western charts". The Guardian. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 2017-03-08.
    53. ↑ Gregory Singer, "Fresh from the Festivals: August 2003’s Film Reviews" Archived 2023-02-17 at the Wayback Machine. Animation World Network, August 27, 2003.
    54. ↑ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (2021-01-01). "Eugene Wright, bassist with classic Dave Brubeck Quartet, dies aged 97". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
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