Just heard the sad news that Dave Brubeck died yesterday. What a legend. Here's this nerdy looking guy that completely changed how Jazz could be listened to by everyone. He was one of the biggest proponents of West Coast Jazz. But he was so much more. He also wrote for the Charlie Brown specials, which alone would make him a legend. However, what makes him a legend is actually one album.
Time Out is an album that shouldn't have happened. Jazz was always based on the improvisation, and not on strict time signatures. Pretty much everyone used normal time for Jazz, and that's the way it was. Brubeck comes along and records an entire album of music consisting of pieces with rare and difficult to play, time signatures. 9/8 and 5/4 are not something you hear a lot of in Western Music. And as a musician, adding that 5th beat to a measure is tricky on 5/4. You just can't understand how huge this was, and the chance that Columbia Records took at the time in releasing it. (They did stipulate that he release a "normal" record prior to this one, so they tried to cover themselves I suppose.
Brubeck was influenced by his time on a US Department of State sponsored trip of Eurasia. Especially Turkish folk music, which is in 9/8. (To get a sense of that, listen to Blue Rondo a la Turk and see how strange it sounds, but how awesome it works.) So, I have the Department of State in common with Mr. Brubeck. Which is nice.
Here's the deal with "Take Five": it shouldn't work. Dave Brubeck and the alto sax player, Paul Desmond (who actually wrote "Take Five") formed a very solid West Coast Jazz power. The drummer, Joe Morello, was fantastic and technical Jazz drummer who could play the complex time signatures. However, the bassist, Eugene Wright, was a traditional, Kansas City-Style of bass playing, which should have been at odds with the West Coast Jazz of Brubeck and Desmond. (Stay with me, this is important.) None of this should have worked.
But it did. "Take Five" is a masterpiece. Desmond is an amazing sax player, and the percussion section of Brubeck and Morello are great. The entire thing is held together by the strong bass line played by Wright. All these things meld together to give you 5 minutes and 24 seconds of bliss. Amazingly, the drum solo keeps the 5/4 time, which is unheard of in these days of drummers losing their minds and playing on for 10 minutes. (John Bonham and Keith Moon being the people who basically invented the extended drum solo.) But to keep it in time boggles.
This song is so amazing that I don't even really need to pimp it out to people. If you haven't heard it, you should. The musicianship of these 4 people playing together is a treat for the ears. Sit in a room with the lights off, your eyes shut, and this playing. You might have a religious experience.
Sadly, Paul Desmond died in 1977. Joe Morello, voted best drummer 5 years running by Down Beat Magazine, died in 2011. Dave Brubeck left us yesterday, and the only one left from that recording is Eugene Wright. Go and do me a favor: listen to this song. In fact, if you go to a Panera Bread, you might accidentally hear it while you sit there. I think Dave Brubeck would have liked that. Even though his music was difficult, he was trying to make it accessible for everyone. He succeeded. Thank you Dave. RIP.
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