Dave Brubeck was a pioneer already before Time Out was released in 1959 and 'it was the first album to really explore the uncharted seas of compound time' states Steve Race on his cover notes. Some artists before him, notably Benny Carter and Max Roach had experimented in 3/4 waltz time but Dave went further and found even more exotic time signatures by laying one rhythm in counterpoint over another.
Time Out was to blend three cultures together, i.e. Western music, African folk music and in the case of 'Blue Rondo A La Turk' which leads off side 1 of the LP, Turkish folk rhythms.
One of the most iconic songs on the album was the 5/4 time 'Take Five' but the Columbia executives and engineers at the time who had been more accustomed to the usual 4/4 time signature thought that this unusual style was 'experimental, avant-garde and perhaps unacceptable' to a large record buying public.
How wrong could they have been with hindsight as the album is regarded as one of the best selling jazz works of all time wherby Dave has fused key elements of jazz such as swing and improvisation with classical and regional forms such as fugue and rondo, but at the same time introducing complex and unusual numbers of beats to the bar. The result was music that now enjoys 'cult status', it was revoluntionary, yet remained 'cool and elegant'.
Joining Dave on Time Out were the aformentioned Paul Desmond on sax, Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums and the set was produced by Teo Macero and engineered by Fred Plaut between June and August of 1959.
Composer Paul Desmond thought the track Take Five was a kind of a 'throwaway album filler track' and was ready to trade the entire rights of the song for a used Ronson electric shaver. We are glad that he didn't as he donated the rights of the song to the Red Cross upon his death in 1977 and the song earns in the region of $100,000 p.a. for them.
When Columbia released the album it was with little promotion and Dave thought that it would become a 'dust covered relic', however two presenters. one in Cleveland and one in Chicago liked it and played tracks from the album on air and the public then demanded that their local record stores stock it.
The album continued to enjoy steady sales until Take Five was released as a single in 1961 and the album rose to 2nd in the US Billboard Pop Album Charts and the single Take Five climbed to 25th in the US Pop Singles Chart and reached a Top 10 position in the UK.
The album became a hit, not only in the USA, but worldwide and Dave joined an exalted array of artists to do so such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and a few others.
Dave Brubeck passed away in 2012 at the age of 91 but has left his own wonderful legacy behind.
Review by Wes George
(former Webmaster & Marketer with Sony Jazz)
Similar Artists - Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Lennie Tristano, Jeff Lorber
Previously : Billie Holiday
Next Time : Various Artists - Round Midnight DVD
* Also see :- The History Of Jazz
* Also see :- Louis Armstrong Biography
* Also see :- Dave Brubeck Biography
* Also see :- John Hammond Biography
* Also see :- Nica de Koenigswarter Biography
* Also see :- 52nd Street
* Also see :- Tin Pan Alley |