Take Five

Take Five is a famous jazz song.

It has a very special beat. Most songs have four beats. This song has five beats in a row. A drummer named Joe Morello helped start it.

Paul Desmond wrote the melody. The song uses a saxophone and a piano. It is the best-selling jazz single ever. People still play it on the radio today.

Take Five is a very famous jazz song.

It was made by Paul Desmond. He wrote it in 1959. The song is special because of its beat. Most songs use four beats. This song uses five beats in a bar. This is called quintuple time.

Joe Morello was the drummer for the group. He challenged Desmond to write a song with this rhythm. Desmond wrote the main tune on the alto saxophone. The song also has a piano and a bass. It uses a two-chord vamp to keep the beat. The song became a huge hit later on. It is the best-selling jazz single of all time. Many artists have played their own versions of it. Some even sing lyrics to the tune. It was even put in the Grammy Hall of Fame. People still love to hear it on the radio today.

"Take Five" is one of the most famous jazz songs ever made.

It is a jazz standard that people still love to hear today. Many artists play their own versions of this song in different styles. It has even been played in movies and on television shows. The song is known for its cool saxophone melodies and a steady drum solo. It was eventually put into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Because so many people enjoy it, it stays on the radio often.

The song works using a very unusual rhythm. Most music uses four beats in a bar, but this song uses five. This is called quintuple time. The rhythm feels like it is split into groups of three and two beats.

The music uses a two-chord vamp on the piano and bass to keep the beat. A saxophone plays the main melody using a special scale called the E minor blues scale. The song also has a bridge section that uses a different scale. This structure makes the music sound very interesting to listeners.

The song was written by Paul Desmond in 1959. It was recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for their album titled "Time Out."

The idea came from the drummer, Joe Morello. He challenged Desmond to write a piece using a five-beat rhythm. Desmond wrote the melodies, and Dave Brubeck arranged them. The group actually had a hard time recording it at first. They tried more than 20 times on June 25, 1959, but they kept losing the beat. They finally finished the recording successfully on July 1.

"Take Five" became a massive success for Columbia Records. It was released as a single in September 1959, but it became a huge hit later in 1961.

It reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also reached number 5 on the Easy Listening chart. The song was the first jazz single to sell over one million copies. By 1967, it had sold two million copies. Even after Dave Brubeck died in 2012, the song became popular again in Europe. It even appeared on music charts in Austria and France.

You might recognize the song from many different places. It is a staple of jazz music that many musicians study. Some singers, like Carmen McRae, even added words to the melody. Other musicians played it as reggae or even as a classical-style orchestral piece.

In a concert, the band members would sometimes leave the stage one by one. They would do this until only the drummer was left playing. This was a special way to show off the drummer's skill. The song connects many different types of music together.

"Take Five" is a famous jazz standard.

It was composed by saxophonist Paul Desmond. The Dave Brubeck Quartet originally recorded it in 1959. The song is featured on the album titled "Time Out." It is widely considered one of the greatest jazz recordings ever made. Many people call it an iconic record. It has even been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song remains a staple for live performances and radio programs today.

The song is built on a very unusual rhythmic foundation. Most common music uses a four-beat pattern in each bar. "Take Five" uses quintuple time, which means there are five beats per bar.

This meter is split unevenly into groups of three and two quarter notes. This means the main musical accents land on the first and fourth beats. The composition uses a two-chord vamp involving E minor and B minor 7. This vamp is played by the piano and the upright bass. The melody is played on the alto saxophone using an E minor hexatonic blues scale.

The musical structure follows an ABA ternary form. This means the song has three main sections that repeat in a specific order. The album version contains ten distinct sections to guide the listener. It begins with an intro where the drums enter first. The piano joins after four bars, and the bass joins after eight bars. The "A" section features the main melody based on the blues scale. The "B" section is a bridge melody based on the G major scale. After the bridge, the song returns to the "A" section for a reprise. This includes an improvised modal solo by the alto saxophone and a drum solo by Joe Morello.

The history of the song began with a musical challenge. In 1958, the Dave Brubeck Quartet toured Eurasia for the U.S. State Department. Dave Brubeck wanted to experiment with odd time signatures he heard abroad. During this time, drummer Joe Morello challenged Desmond to write a piece in 5/4 time. Brubeck asked Desmond to write melodies around Morello's rhythmic ideas. The recording process was actually very difficult. On June 25, 1959, the group attempted to record the track 20 times. They spent 40 minutes trying, but they kept losing the beat. Producer Teo Macero eventually stopped the session. The group finally recorded the successful version in just two takes on July 1, 1959.

"Take Five" achieved massive commercial success over several years. It was released as a promotional single in September 1959. However, it became a "sleeper hit" in 1961. This happened after the song received heavy radio play on WNEW in New York City. In 1961, it reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number 5 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. The song was the first jazz single to sell over one million copies. By December 1967, sales had reached two million copies. Even after Dave Brubeck died in 2012, the song saw new popularity in Europe. It re-entered the charts in Austria, France, and the Netherlands.

Many different artists have created their own versions of this song. The first known cover was by singer Carmen McRae in 1961. She used lyrics written by Iola Brubeck, who was Dave's wife. Other musicians have changed the genre of the song entirely. Jamaican saxophonist Val Bennett recorded a roots reggae version in 1968. He retitled his version "The Russians Are Coming." In 2011, the Sachal Studios Orchestra from Pakistan released a version that won great acclaim. Dave Brubeck even called this orchestral version "the most interesting" one he had heard. The song has also appeared in movie soundtracks, such as the 1993 film "Manhattan Murder Mystery."

The song also influenced how the Quartet performed live. For fifty years, the group often used "Take Five" to close their concerts. They used a special technique inspired by Haydn's "Farewell Symphony." Each musician would leave the stage one by one after their solo. This continued until only the drummer, Joe Morello, remained on stage. This was done to showcase Morello's mastery of time and rhythm. Beyond music, the song has a lasting social impact. Paul Desmond left the performance royalties for his songs to the American Red Cross. This organization receives payments averaging well over $100,000 every year.