Take Five
"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.[1][2] Frequently covered by a variety of artists, the track is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.
For other uses, see Take Five (disambiguation)."Take Five"
September 21, 1959;
May 22, 1961 (reissue)
July 1, 1959
CBS 30th Street, New York City
- 2:55 (single version)
- 5:28 (album version)
Columbia 4-41479
Dave Brubeck was inspired to create an album based on odd time signatures during his state-sponsored 1958 Eurasia trip. The track was written after the Quartet's drummer, Joe Morello, requested a song in quintuple (5
4) meter. Desmond composed the melodies on Morello's rhythms while Brubeck arranged the song. The track's name is derived from its meter. The track is written in E♭ minor and is in ternary (ABA) form.
Released as a promotional single in September 1959, the track would not achieve commercial success until it became a sleeper hit in 1961. "Take Five" went on to become the biggest-selling jazz single of all time and still receives significant radio airplay.
Background and recording[edit]
The Dave Brubeck Quartet's U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia in 1958 inspired Brubeck to create an album, Time Out, that experimented with odd time signatures like ones he had encountered abroad.[3][4][5] "Take Five" was composed after most of the album's music had been written.[3] The Quartet's drummer, Joe Morello, frequently soloed in 5
4 time and asked Brubeck to compose a new piece to showcase his ability.[3][6] Brubeck delegated Desmond to write a tune using Morello's rhythm.[6] Desmond composed two melodies,[a] which Brubeck arranged in ternary form.[8]
The Quartet first tried recording "Take Five" on June 25, 1959.[1] It proved so arduous that, after 40 minutes and more than 20 failed attempts, producer Teo Macero suspended the effort because one or another of the members kept losing the beat.[9] This iteration of the tune used a different rhythmic groove than the final version; it was "driving and fast" with a "lopsided Latin rhythm".[10] They successfully recorded the single and the album track in two takes at the next session on July 1.[1][9] Desmond considered the track a "throwaway".[3] The Quartet first played "Take Five" for a live audience at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 5, 1959.[11]
Although released as a promotional[18] single on September 21, 1959,[f] "Take Five" became a sleeper hit in 1961. In May 1961, the track was reissued for radio play and jukebox use,[19] partly in response to its heavy rotation on the radio station WNEW in New York City.[20] That year, it reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 (October 9),[21][g] No. 5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart (October 23)[22] and No. 6 on the UK Record Retailer chart (November 16).[23] In 1962, it peaked at No. 8 both in the New Zealand Lever Hit Parade (January 11)[24] and the Dutch Single Top 100 (February 17).[25] The single is a different recording from the LP version and omits most of the drum solo.[26] It became the first jazz single to surpass a million in sales,[27] reaching two million by the time Brubeck disbanded his 'classic' quartet in December 1967.[28]
Columbia Records quickly enlisted "Take Five" in their doomed launch of the 33+1⁄3-rpm stereo single in the marketplace. Together with a unique stereo edit of "Blue Rondo à la Turk", they pressed the full album version in small numbers for a promotional six-pack of singles sent to DJs in late 1959.[29]
News of Brubeck's death on December 5, 2012 rekindled the popularity of "Take Five" across Europe, the single debuting in the Austrian Top 40 at No. 73 (December 14)[30] and the French Singles Chart at No. 48 (December 15)[31] while re-entering the Dutch charts at No. 50 (December 15).[25]
Future within the Quartet[edit]
The saxophonist, Desmond, wrote and recorded the similar-sounding (and similarly named) composition "Take Ten" for his 1963 solo album Take Ten;[37] he released another rendition of "Take Ten" on his 1973 album Skylark. 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 Morello's mastery of 5
4 time).[38][3][39] Upon his death from lung cancer in 1977, Desmond left the performance royalties for his compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross,[40][41] which has since received payments averaging well over $100,000 a year.[42][43]
