Take Five

"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond and originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for their album[lower-alpha 1] Time Out at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio in New York City on July 1, 1959.[2] Two years later it became a surprise[3] hit[lower-alpha 2] and the biggest-selling jazz single ever.[4][5] Revived since in numerous movie and television soundtracks,[6] the piece still receives significant radio airplay.

For other uses, see Take Five (disambiguation).
"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);
reissued May 22, 1961
Format7" 45rpm
RecordedJuly 1, 1959
CBS 30th St. Studio, New York
GenreWest Coast cool jazz
Length2:55 (single version)
5:28 (album version)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Paul Desmond (composer)
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)

The single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996.

Release and chart success

Although released as a promotional[7] single on September 21, 1959,[lower-alpha 3] "Take Five" fulfilled its chart potential only when reissued[lower-alpha 4] for radio play and jukebox use[9] in May 1961, that year reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 (October 9),[10][lower-alpha 5] No. 5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart (October 23)[11] and No. 6 on the UK Record Retailer chart (November 16).[12] The single is a different recording than the LP version and omits most of the drum solo.[13] It became the first jazz single to surpass a million in sales,[14] reaching two million by the time Dave Brubeck disbanded his quartet in 1967.[15]

Columbia Records also enlisted "Take Five" in their doomed attempt to launch ​33 1⁄3-rpm stereo singles in the marketplace. Together with a unique stereo edit of "Blue Rondo à la Turk", the full album version was pressed in small numbers for a promotional six-pack of singles sent to DJs in late 1959.[16][17]

Performances

The Dave Brubeck Quartet first played "Take Five" to a live audience at the Village Gate nightclub in New York City in July 1959. 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 Joe Morello's mastery of 5
4 time).[4][18][19]

Some of the many cover versions include lyrics by Brubeck's wife Iola, penned for a September 6, 1961 live recording sung by Carmen McRae backed by the Dave Brubeck Trio (Brubeck, Eugene Wright and Morello).[20][21] Al Jarreau recorded an acclaimed scat version of the song for NDR television in Hamburg, West Germany on October 17, 1975.[22]

Desmond, upon his death in 1977, left the performance royalties for his compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross,[23][24] which has since received royalties averaging well over $100,000 a year combined.[25][26]

Musical style

"Take Five" is known for its distinctive two-chord[lower-alpha 6] piano/bass vamp; catchy[lower-alpha 7] blues-scale saxophone melodies; inventive, jolting drum solo;[lower-alpha 8] and unorthodox quintuple (5
4) time, from which Dave Brubeck derived its name.[28][29]

Helped by native symphony musicians, the classically-trained Brubeck had recently enhanced his knowledge of more complex forms of music during the Quartet's U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia in the spring of 1958.[30] The odyssey inspired him to create an album that diverged from the usual 4
4 time of jazz by adapting the exotic meters he had encountered abroad.[31]

Structure

"Take Five" is written in the key of E♭ minor and in 5
4 time, with the five beats to the bar split unevenly into 3 + 2 quarter notes. The album version has ten sections.[32][33]

SectionDescription
IntroDrum, piano and double bass set up 5
4 pattern with two-chord (E♭m–B♭m7} ostinato
AAlto sax plays main melody (A) in two similar 4-bar phrases
BAlto sax plays bridge melody (B) in two similar 4-bar phrases
AReprise
Solo 1Improvised alto sax solo over ostinato
Solo 2Improvised drum solo over ostinato
AReprise, preceded by intro ostinato
BReprise
AReprise
CodaAlto sax plays repeated 4-note motifs from main melody, with final note sustained over ostinato to close

Personnel

Cover versions

The piece has been a staple of jazz and pop music since it was first released. More than 40 cover versions have been recorded, as early as Carmen McRae's cover in 1961 on an album titled Take Five Live. Recordings have been released by artists known for playing jazz (Al Jarreau, George Benson), country (Chet Atkins), bluegrass (the String Cheese Incident) and pop (Stevie Wonder), as well as from artists in many different countries. In 1972, singer Don Partridge wrote lyrics to "Take Five" sung to the saxophone melody, and regularly performed the song in live stage performances and when street-busking throughout Europe.[34] In 1995, Moe Koffman recorded a version for his album Devil's Brew. This was the first version recorded by a Canadian artist. In 1996, The Specials recorded a version for their cover album Today's Specials. In 2011, a version by Pakistan's Sachal Studios Orchestra won widespread acclaim and charted highly on American and British jazz charts.[35]

Notes
  1. The single version was recorded separately the same day.[1]
  2. Nominated for the 1962 Grammy Award for Record of the Year, won by Henry Mancini for "Moon River".
  3. Almost three months before its parent album Time Out was itself released.
  4. Partly in response to heavy rotation of the tune on radio station WNEW in New York.[8]
  5. 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.
  6. E♭m-B♭m7
  7. Desmond believed the borderline decision to include his bridge melody was key to the tune's ultimate popularity.[27]
  8. Featured in the album version but not the single.

References
  1. Crist, Stephen A. (2019-10-09). Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Oxford University Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-190-21772-3. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  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. Ramsey, Doug (2005-02-01). Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. Seattle: Parkside Publications. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-9617266-7-6. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  4. "Dave Brubeck". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  5. Kniestedt, Kevin. "The Mix: 100 Quintessential Jazz Songs". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  6. Alatorre, Michael (2016-03-19). "Same Song, Different Movie: Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet". le0pard13.com. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  7. Crist, Stephen A. (2019-10-09). Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Oxford University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-190-21772-3. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  8. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 28 April 1962. p. 12. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  9. Crist, Stephen A. (2019-10-09). Dave Brubeck's Time Out. Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-190-21772-3. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  10. "Dave Brubeck Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  11. "Dave Brubeck Take Five Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  12. "Official Singles Chart Top 50 1961". Officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  13. Schaap, Phil (1999). Soundtrack to a Century – Jazz: The Definitive Performances (Liner notes). Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia/Legacy. J2K 65807.
  14. Tawney, Raj (2019-12-13). "The Dave Brubeck Quartet's 'Time Out' at 60: Inside Jazz's First Million-Selling LP". billboard.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  15. Feather, Leonard (1967-07-30). "The End of an Era in Modern Jazz". Los Angeles Times.
  16. "The Dave Brubeck Quartet / Billy Butterfield & Ray Conniff – Take Five / South Of The Border". Discogs.com. n.d. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  17. Callahan, Mike (2016-02-13). "The Stereo Singles Project, Part 2: Stereo-33 Singles Discography (1959-1964)". bsn.com. Both Sides Now Publications. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  18. Sarabia, Tony (2000-11-19). "The Story Of Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five'". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  19. 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.
  20. Ted Gioia (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. Oxford University Press. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-19-976915-5.
  21. "Dave Brubeck Discography". jazzdisco.org. Free Software Foundation. 2001. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  22. Meeker, David (2019-04-29). "NDR Jazz Workshop 1975". Loc.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  23. Gioia, Ted (2012-09-27). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. p. 419. 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.
  24. Lees, Gene (1995-12-21). Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White. Oxford University Press. p. 55.
  25. 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.
  26. "Paul Desmond – Celebrating a Legacy of Music and Compassion". American Red Cross. 2005. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  27. 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. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  28. Sarabia, Tony (2000-11-19). "The Story Of Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five'". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  29. 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.
  30. Schudel, Matt (2008-04-06). "Ambassador of Cool". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
  31. Kaplan, Fred (2009). 1959: The Year that Changed Everything. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-0-470-38781-8.
  32. Lawn, Richard J. (2013). Experiencing Jazz. Routledge. p. 237. ISBN 9781135042684.
  33. 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.
  34. Stewart Partridge, brother
  35. 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.
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