Time Out

SECTION 1 — CJ DEEP DIVE

1. Quick Reference Album Name: Time Out Artist: The Dave Brubeck Quartet Release Date: December 14, 1959 Recording Dates: June 25 and July 1, 1959 Label: Columbia Records Genre/Subgenre: Cool Jazz / Jazz with Non-Standard Time Signatures

2. Historical Context By 1959, jazz was in one of the most fertile and competitive periods in its history. Dave Brubeck had studied composition under Darius Milhaud and briefly with Arnold Schoenberg. He was interested in polytonality, polyrhythm, and odd time signatures — ideas drawn from twentieth-century classical music and from folk musics encountered during a State Department-sponsored world tour in 1958. That tour through Turkey, Poland, and India exposed Brubeck to folk musicians who played naturally in 5/4, 9/8, and other meters that Western jazz musicians rarely attempted. Columbia Records was skeptical. The label president reportedly told Brubeck no one would buy it. Brubeck recorded it anyway.

3. The Musicians

Dave Brubeck — Piano: Born in Concord, California in 1920. Studied composition with Darius Milhaud. Thought architecturally, built complex harmonic clusters, drawn to counterpoint and formal structure. His playing was often criticized for being too heavy and insufficiently swinging. What he had was weight, intelligence, and a willingness to experiment. Other landmark recordings: Dave Digs Disney (1957), Jazz Goes to College (1954).

Paul Desmond — Alto Saxophone: One of the most distinctive voices in jazz. His tone was described as sounding like a dry martini — cool, translucent, witty, impossibly elegant. Composed Take Five, the most famous piece on the album. When the Quartet broke up, Desmond left the Take Five copyright to the Red Cross, generating tens of millions in royalties. Other landmark recordings: Paul Desmond with Strings (1955), Pure Desmond (1974).

Joe Morello — Drums: The unsung hero of Time Out. Technically extraordinary — precise, controlled, melodically inventive. Without Morello the album would not have been possible: he makes the unusual meters feel inevitable rather than awkward. His extended drum solo on Take Five is one of the most celebrated moments in jazz percussion.

Eugene Wright — Double Bass: Known as The Senator. The only Black member of the group. Brubeck famously refused bookings at venues that demanded segregated audiences or refused to allow Wright on stage. Wright’s bass is steady and supportive, the ideal foundation for Morello’s rhythmic experiments.

4. Why This Recording Matters Time Out made rhythmic complexity feel natural and accessible. Every track uses a non-standard time signature — 5/4, 9/8, 6/4, 3/4 against 4/4 — yet the album never sounds academic. It became the first jazz album to sell one million copies. It drew a direct line between global folk music and American jazz, anticipating the world music movement by two decades. Beyond jazz, Take Five became cultural shorthand for sophistication and cool in film and television worldwide.

5. Track-by-Track Listening Guide

Blue Rondo à la Turk (9/8→4/4): Opens with an angular, insistent 9/8 theme inspired by street musicians in Istanbul. Builds tension then explodes into swinging 4/4 — like opening a valve. Brubeck’s solo is blocky and percussive, Desmond’s airy and melodic.

Strange Meadow Lark (4/4): The one standard-meter ballad — a showcase for Desmond at his most lyrical. Listen to how much space is used. The rests are part of the music.

Take Five (5/4): The most recognizable jazz melody ever written. Built on an endlessly cycling two-chord vamp. Try counting 1-2-3, 1-2 — you’ll feel it within thirty seconds. Morello’s extended drum solo never overplays.

Three to Get Ready (3/4 alternating with 4/4): Playful piece alternating waltz time with 4/4 swing. A gentle rhythmic hiccup — the music keeps almost landing where you expect, then shifting.

Kathy’s Waltz (6/4): Named for Brubeck’s daughter. Lighter and more graceful, a showcase for how the Quartet makes rhythmic complexity sound effortless.

Everybody’s Jumpin’ (6/4): Most energetic track. Closest the album gets to straightforward dance music while never quite becoming it.

Pick Up Sticks (6/4): Brisk closing track. The band playing with the ease of musicians who have spent an album doing something difficult so well it no longer seems difficult.

6. Connections and Relationships Influences: Darius Milhaud’s La Création du Monde (1923); Stan Kenton’s Innovations in Modern Music (1950-51); Lennie Tristano’s free-time experiments. Contemporary: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (1959); Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959). Three entirely different answers to where jazz should go — modal, free, and metric — all appearing within months of each other. Influenced later: Don Ellis, Electric Bath (1967); Yes, King Crimson, Genesis in progressive rock; Vijay Iyer Trio’s rhythmic jazz. Listen next: Dave Brubeck, Time Further Out (1961); Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (1959); Vijay Iyer Trio, Accelerando (2012).

7. Timeline Placement Time Out sits at the late Cool Jazz/early Modal Jazz boundary. It addressed the question of rhythm rather than harmony (which modal jazz was answering simultaneously). What came after: a generation that understood time signatures were not fixed, and a world music sensibility that allowed global folk meters into jazz.

8. Legacy Rolling Stone included it on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album’s reputation has only risen. Commercial success that once made it suspect in jazz circles is now read as evidence of Brubeck’s gift: he made genuinely difficult music feel welcoming without dumbing it down.

9. Curiosities Paul Desmond left Take Five’s royalties entirely to the Red Cross — tens of millions of dollars. The album’s inspiration came from a 1958 State Department world tour. Joe Morello was nearly blind when he recorded it. Brubeck appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1954 — one of the very few jazz musicians to do so. The cover art was painted by S. Neil Fujita, a Japanese-American designer who also created the original In Cold Blood cover.

10. Listening Assignment Three albums that led to Time Out: Dave Brubeck Quartet, Jazz Goes to College (1954); Gerry Mulligan Quartet (1952); Darius Milhaud, La Création du Monde (1923). Three albums influenced by it: Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Further Out (1961); Don Ellis Orchestra, Electric Bath (1967); Yes, Close to the Edge (1972). One modern recording connecting past to present: Vijay Iyer Trio, Accelerando (2012).