Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Time Out [cd]

Time Out
by The Dave Brubeck Quartet [Compact Disc 781.65 Bru]

I felt challenged, when I saw my colleague's review of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, which he described as arguably the greatest jazz album of all time, to write up a recommendation of my own favorite jazz cd. And this review seems appropriately timely, considering the passing of musician Dave Brubeck, at the beginning of December. Time Out was a 1959 album by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and is a marvelous, infectious combination of upbeat tones and traditional West Coast Jazz elements. The album is comprised of only 7 tracks, and features Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond on alto sax, Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on drums. The album's title is a light-hearted warning to listeners that most of the tracks experiment with unusual rhythyms and time signatures, including 9/8 and 5/4 patterns. All 7 tracks are very memorable pieces, but the stand-outs include "Take Five," "Blue Rondo a la Turk," "Kathy's Waltz" and "Pick Up Sticks." This album is definitely a feel-good jazz album, and is always the album I recommend to anyone looking to sample the field for the first time. Although poorly reviewed when it first came out, Time Out sold extremely well, becoming the first jazz album to go Platinum (sell 1,000,000 copies) -- the single "Take Five" also went Platinum on its own. Unforgettable music, and forever timeless. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter It's All Geek to Me! - on the Books, Movies & More newsletter sign-up page].

[ Background into about Time Out on Wikipedia ] | [ DaveBrubeck.com ]

Have you listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

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1 comment:

pejorg2000 said...

Definitely one of the all-time best jazz albums ever!