Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five

Take Five is one of the very few jazz recordings that non-jazz fans will often recognise.

Recorded as a track on the Dave Brubeck Quartet album Time Out of 1959, it was the only composition not written by Brubeck, being composed by sax player Paul Desmond. The album set out to explore time signatures not usually found in jazz - Take Five of course being in 5/4 time (3+2). But even the tracks written in 4/4 have a complex rhythmic interplay.

Columbia Records were not that enthusiastic about this album, nor were the critics initially, but it was a hit with the public, and Take Five - on its second release as a single in 1961 entered the charts in the US and UK (though the single version omits a lot of the drum solo). This was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies, and the single of Take Five also sold more than a million.

Steve Huey's review of Time Out on Allmusic concludes:

"Some have come to disdain Time Out as it's become increasingly synonymous with upscale coffeehouse ambience, but as someone once said of Shakespeare, it's really very good in spite of the people who like it. It doesn't just sound sophisticated -- it really is sophisticated music, which lends itself to cerebral appreciation, yet never stops swinging. Countless other musicians built on its pioneering experiments, yet it's amazingly accessible for all its advanced thinking, a rare feat in any art form. This belongs in even the most rudimentary jazz collection."

Cartridge: Hana EL

Phono amp: Graham Slee Accession MC

Turntable: PTP Audio Solid 12 with SME M2-12-r tonearm