58. Time Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKeS0D3uQhE&list=OLAK5uy_mo1JrADSY-s5PlmoAEOSf9Sv_FBVgVF7A
If you remember playing "Mars, Bringer of War" in high school band competition, then you also probably remember how difficult it is to play in 5/4 time. You remember, the classical piece that Banyas always had to stop us from playing at the beginning of the song to say, "It goes dah-dah-dah daah daah dat-dat-daah." You know, the one that everyone hated to play because there were five frickin' quarter notes in a measure instead of the three and four beats that we had learned to play in EVERY OTHER SONG WE EVER PLAYED. Banyas was hoping that the 5/4 time signature would impress the band competition judges, and we'd get a Superior rating from them. That never happened. Probably because we had some drummers--not Jim Sterner though--that could barely keep regular 4/4 time, and they'd inevitably get lost with the 5/4 time, and Sterner had to wrangle them all back on track in the middle of the song. (I believe Jim went on to play drums in the armed forces, so tip of the hat to him for keeping on playing music after that last song during high school graduation.)
Like Banyas, Dave Brubeck had this idea for a jazz album that he thought might impress a few people by incorporating some strange time signatures. Time Out is made up of songs that were mostly played in weird time signatures like 5/4, 6/4, and 9/8--with 3/4 and 4/4 thrown in the middle of some songs just for the fun of it. The result is an album that is quite fun to listen to, although I bet it was hell to play and not mess up.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet features four great Jazz players, including Dave Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond on saxophone, John Stockton on drums, and Carl Malone on bass. And because the songs have an eclectic mix of time signatures, the album cover has some funky Picassoesque abstract art on it.
This album has much more of an upbeat sound than Kind of Blue--which is so chill you can cool iceless drinks just by placing them in front of the speaker. So if you want some jazz you can listen to while doing something active, like cleaning up around the house, mixing Sprite and lime martinis for dinner guests, or robbing a casino with the rest of the Rat Pack, then Time Out is the album for you. It was the first jazz album to sell over a million copies. And the stand-out song on the album--"Take Five"--was the first jazz single to sell over a million copies. Consequently, it's no surprise that you end up hearing "Take Five" on so many movies and TV shows. It's a much more famous song, I think, than anything on Kind of Blue. And it's "Take Five" that nudges this album above Kind of Blue for me.
I highly recommend giving the entire album a listen to the next time you want to brighten your mood with something that is intellectually challenging but pleasant to listen to at the same time. But I do caution you to NOT try to tap your foot on any of the songs on this album, because you're liable to break your ankle if you do.
I don't know what you're talking about. I LOVED playing "Mars!" Mostly because the trombones had a freaking cool sound in that song, and the one extended trombone "solo," which meant lots of extra practice and scrutiny from Mr. Banyas, was played only by Sheldon and Wade, with the rest of the trombone section (Bubba and I) sitting back and relaxing. It was one of my favorite songs to play.
ReplyDeleteAs far as this music is concerned, I much prefer the offbeat hipness of Dave Brubeck to the smoothness of Miles Davis. (Much better to listen to while cleaning the kitchen.)