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Dave Brubeck. Time Out (1959)

I never liked Brubeck much as a piano player. I tend to put him in the category of pianists like George Shearer, André Previn, Dave McKenna. Time Out features his classic quartet with Paul Desmond on alto. This was the hip record if you were white college student ca. 1960-- hip ma non troppo.

The gimmick of the album is odd times. Five four in the most famous track, "Take Five," writtten by Desmond. Blue Rondo a la Turk starts out in 9/8, with a pattern that goes ONE two ONE two ONE two ONE two three, and shifts back and forth between that and a stanard 4/4. Joe Morello, the legendary drummer, holds it all together.

Desmond is a good sax player, with a very nice tone, though not quite my favorite white player of the period: I like Mulligan, Getz, Pepper, Konitz, and Marsh better.

Still, this is a significant piece of jazz history, for its enormous popularity if for nothing else.