In honor of pianist Dave Brubeck’s birthday (he would have been 104 years old today), today’s classic song of the day is a little different from our normal entree. The song is that rare jazz tune that made it onto the mainstream charts. It’s also unusual in that it’s in 5/4 time instead of the normal 4/4. The tune is “Take Five” and it was performed and recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
Dave Brubeck was a stellar jazz pianist of the West Coast cool school, more cerebral than most, capable of embracing unusual syncopations, sophisticated harmonies and modulations, and, yes, odd time signatures. In his classic Quartet, he assembled a group of like-minded musical intellectuals in alto saxophonist Paul Desmond (his sound was once described as “like a dry martini”), rock-solid bassist Eugene Wright, and legendary drummer Joe Morello. Brubeck had fronted quartets with Desmond and different rhythm sections for several years prior; this classic lineup lasted from 1958 through 1968.
The song “Take Five” gets its name from its unusual time signature, 5/4. (Count it out yourself; it goes 1-2-3, 4-5.) It wasn’t written by Brubeck but rather by saxophonist Paul Desmond. He based the tune on a 5/4 riff that drummer Joe Morello used to warm up with before gigs. The recording of “Take Five,” in addition to Desmond’s sax solo, features an extended and highly innovative drum solo by Morello, making it one of the few hit singles with a drum solo. (Interestingly, the recording of “Take Five” doesn’t feature a Brubeck piano solo, although he typically performed one when they played the tune in concert.)
The Quartet first tried recording “Take Five” on June 25, 1959, but after twenty failed takes, that session was abandoned. (The boys kept losing the beat, if you can believe that.) They tried again on July 1, with Teo Macero producing, and nailed it in two takes. When they were done, Desmond thought the song was a throwaway; he joked that he might be able to use his entire share of the royalties to buy a new electric shaver. (He was somewhat incorrect in his assessment, as he later admitted.)
Here’s what Mr. Desmond (humorously) wrote about his most famous composition:
“‘Take Five’ is a quick sketch in 5/4 intended mainly as an entrance and exit for a pentagonistic drum solo by my favorite drummer, Joe Morello. Joe’s contribution here is unfortunately shorter than at like concerts, but I guess you’ll get the idea. If the problem of beating time to this disturbs you, and I don’t know why it shouldn’t, a good way is to tap your fingers, one at a time. (One is where the thumb is.) The melody, such as it is, was assembled rapidly in the studio, and consists of fragments which occurred to me here and there, mainly at a slot machine in Reno which produced an ominous but regular series of 5 clicks as the coins vanished. (The royalties from this will have to exceed $47 before I break even, but that’s show biz.)”
“Take Five” was initially included on the Quartet’s classic 1959 album, Time Out; that album featured primarily songs in odd time signatures, such as “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” “Three to Get Ready,” and another Morello feature, “Pick Up Sticks.” (The one exception to this is “Strange Meadowlark,” which is firmly in 4/4.) The group first performed “Take Five” live at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 5, 1959.
In May of 1961, almost two years after the album release, Columbia Records issued “Take Five” as a single for radio and jukebox play. Based on huge listener demand, Columbia then released the song as a single at retail. The “Take Five” single ended up selling more then a million copies (the first jazz single to do so) and reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Easy Listening chart, making it a bona fide mainstream hit.
“Take Five” became the biggest jazz single of all time. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996. It’s one of the few jazz tunes that the average listener recognizes, in part because of its inclusion in numerous movie and television soundtracks—and because it’s such a stellar tune and performance.
And here’s a final fact for you. Paul Desmond, upon his untimely death in 1977, left the performance royalties for all his compositions, including “Take Five,” to the American Red Cross. That organization has received well in excess of $100,000 in royalties every year since.
Now I’ll take a minute to tell my personal “Take Five” story.
“Take Five” was the first jazz tune I really listened to, and played, back when I was in 8th grade. My drum instructor, a guy named Jack Wagley, had me working through the Jim Chapin book (Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer) and, while I was playing everything technically correct, Wagley said I wasn’t swinging. (He was right.) He recommended I listen to some Dave Brubeck to get my groove, so I called up my father and asked him to pick up a Brubeck album, any Brubeck album, on his way home from work. The album he got was Brubeck’s Greatest Hits which included “Take Five,” of course; that album and that track just opened up my ears and my mind to something really new.
But here’s the kicker. The very next day at school, THE VERY NEXT DAY, my choir teacher, Phyllis Fulford, took me aside and asked if I might be interested in getting together after school some day with her (piano), my 9th grade friend Brian Siemers (bass), and band director Gene Smith (sax) to “play a little Brubeck.”
I had never heard or heard of Dave Brubeck before that day, and here was my choir teacher asking me to “play a little Brubeck.” How’s that for the cosmos working with a sense of humor, huh? Of course, I said yes.
Anyway, later that year the students at Fulton Junior High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, were treated to our little jazz combo playing “Take Five” to the best of our abilities, complete with me aping Joe Morello’s famous drum solo. To this day, it’s my go-to jazz tune—and I can play in five just like walking the dog. It’s a special tune and a special memory for me.
Dave Brubeck was born on December 6, 1920. He passed away on December 5, 2012, just one day shy of what would have been his 92nd birthday. He was active performing up until his final year or so, to which I can personally attest; my wife and I caught him and a more modern version of the Quartet at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis in 2009, when he was all of 89 years old, and he was just as dynamic then as he was when I first heard him play live way back in 1972. What a great and greatly talented guy.
So here’s your extra special daily bonus video of the day, the Dave Brubeck Quartet performing “Take Five” live in 1961. Pay particular attention to Joe Morello’s extended drum solo on those classic silver sparkle Ludwigs—it is simply amazing.
