"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. 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.
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, and the injunction, "Take five", meaning "take a break for five minutes". The track is written in E♭ minor and is in ternary (ABA) form.
Released as a promotional single in September 1959, "Take Five" became a sleeper hit in 1961, and then went on to become the biggest-selling jazz single of all time. The track still receives significant radio airplay.
Yesterday I cruised YouTube for recordings. I listed to over a dozen. Most of them had the same time feel as Brubeck's original recorder. The instrumentation would be different and the tempo might be faster of slower, but the basic time feel was the same, a jazz swing. But I found four versions that were distinctly different, though I assume there are others out there. I've presented them below, after Brubeck's original recording.
Jazz Swing: Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959, the original recording)
Salsa: Tito Puente (1985)
I heard Tito Puente live at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in the early 1980s. They were hot! hot!! hot!!! People were dancing in aisles. Not bad for a place originally built to present the European classics. Pictures of some of them – Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and the rest – lined the walls. I wonder what they were thinking about Puente. I'd like to think they were savvy enough to smile. [Note: They take it in four, but four with a clave.]
Ska: New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble (2009)
I know next to nothing about ska, but this is a good performance. I like it. [Also in four.]
Pakistani: Sachal Studios (2011)
This is interesting. It's a large group, lot's of fiddles. The arrangement borrows heavily from Brubeck's original. The major difference is in the percussion, which is a tabla player, a very good one, and that gives the whole thing a different underlying rhythmic pulse.
Africans: Chyke Martins and Udoh Band (2024)
I love this, so smooth and slinky. Listen to Martins throw in a bit of "Summertime" at 4:30.
No comments:
Post a Comment