He was holding the beat... Brubeck himself wrote that Wright "grounded the group", allowing them "to play other tempos and do polyrhythmic things and he wouldn’t budge from this grounded beat".
EXACTLY, Only a musician would understand the role of Mr. Wright! If you looked into eugene Wright, he wasn't fond of doing solo's. He was the glue and time keeper. The Man's playing was always spectacular on any of the Brubeck recordings.
As a musician, I can tell you that the bass carried the whole particular tune, and the group all know it, and if you play you will know this too. That was his job for this song. I guarantee you will hear Eugene Wright stepping up in other recordings. As a professional he understood the importance of when to shine and when not to. That's what makes a great musician. He was revered for his jazz talent.
Years ago my wife and I were lucky enough to catch Dave (then in his 90s) at the Blue Note in NYC. What a show! He was kickin it, even at that age. Mad respect.
I f----ing love the low kit. The dude from jinjer is awesome on it and even portnoy did his best work on a small kit with Transatlantic. (from a metal perspective) Still love me the huge kit of course.
I was brought-up with Jazz thanks to my father. Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" had me take more than five and I still think it's one of the best songs ever written and performed.
I love jazz and will watch any reactions that you do to it. You should be aware that if you thought rock was a giant rabbit hole that you fell into, jazz is the grand canyon of rabbit holes. In addition to the classics that many people will recommend, there are great jazz recordings from 100+ years ago to today.
This album was a monster crossed over to mainstream charts very popular and introduced a whole generation to jazz. If you do more try Duke Ellington live at Newport Jazz Festival
YAY!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. The year was 1959. You don’t realize it now but in that year we got this album and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis which is whatever the next level above iconic is. From that album, maybe check out So What. Please, please, please, more classic and modern jazz. ✌️❤️🔥
The shot of the back of Dave's head during the drum break *and* his rapt attention during his sax player's riffing illustrates for me his love of the experience. Dave's understated groove on the keys is mesmerizing for me.
When it comes to jazz I typically start out groovin to it & then lose interest about 5 to10 minutes in...glad I kept viewing for y'all bc I really enjoyed the drum solo!
Modern music is mostly inspired by rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and funk. Disco and hip hop and edm come from that. Jazz was mixed in with all of those styles at a certain point but now jazz influence is very minimal in the past 2 or 3 decades
This is an iconic jaszz song; it OOZES Coolness. It's not the only jazz track to be set to 5/4 time, but it fits into it so organically, whereas in many cases a strange time signature is just a gimmick; showing off the writer's technical knowledge when it is not necessary. These other songs usually don't NEED to be in 5/4; they play them like a 4/4 bar with an extra quarter note tagged on to the end.
This un was/Is a monster hit for mister Brubeck...a must listen for those doing serious research on classic jazz from the 50's era...Thank you TNT you guys are hot!
Another racially integrated band was Booker T and the MGs, they were the house band for Stax records and one day when a singer didn’t show the wrote and recorded the instrumental “Green Onions” out of boredom and it became a huge hit in 1961-62 and it was seen as blueprint for arranging music for a rock bands far into the future. There is an old b/w video of them live that’s really good. It’s not precisely Jazz but more RnB. It’s great trust me and all the old geezers know that song.
HUGE jazz fan here. Resounding YES to more Jazz! “Typically listening to jazz. You see jazz is music that does not compel, it’s free music. Wherever your hand goes the music goes.” ~Bob Marley~ #BlessUp 💚🕊🙏🏻
Take 5 was played during many movie intermissions with images of popcorn, candy, and pop dancing on the screen. Back then a quarter would get you 2 feature films and a cartoon. At drive-in theaters a dollar would get a entire car full of people in.
Glad to see you getting into jazz. I've loved it since I was exposed to it as a kid though Charlie Brown specials and The Cosby Show. I've got Dave Brubeks Greatest Hits in my car's cd player right as we speak.
Isn't it wonderful !!!. Take five . I just love the way you two are feeling it 2 seconds in , the shoulders start the move and the smiles follow. Thank you for perusing this great track .
This is a jazz classic and true innovation! Paul Desmond on sax, Dave on piano, Joe Morello on drums- I forgot who was on bass! Dave’s sound had a classical feel to it.
Thanks for reacting to jazz and great choice to start: Brubeck was an innovator and Paul Desmond had one of the most gorgeous sounds and melodic sensibility of anyone who has played saxophone. I get Tasha's frustration in not hearing the bass player solo too; to remedy that, I'd recommend one of the all-time great live jazz tracks and perhaps the first to feature a bass player not only playing rhythm but jamming in a solo too thanks to another innovator, pianist Bill Evans, who brought under his wing a brilliant, young bass player, Scott LeFaro, playing at the consummate NYC jazz club, The Village Vanguard. The two played the club in 1961 and Scott's solo is considered groundbreaking. Only 25-years-old, Scott was tragically killed a month after the recording when a car in which he was a passenger crashed. His death broke the heart of Evans, who was suffer from addiction and ill health the rest of his life, but Evans, in the mind of many, is the most influential jazz pianist of the past 75 years -> he work still shapes pianists and jazz trios today. Here's a favorite from their recording, an original composition by Evans, Waltz for Debby. th-cam.com/video/hkTgDfexBKM/w-d-xo.html
Bring on the jazz! Duke, Basie, Ella, Miles, Mingus, Herbie, Coltrane, Weather Report, Jaco, Chick... there is an endless amount of amazing jazz music out there to react to. I hope this gets the views to start you on a fun journey. At this time in jazz, there weren't too many bass solos. The focus was usually on horns or keys and sometimes drums. Joe Morello was an absolutely amazing drummer. He kind of changed the game with the odd time signatures that they were writing. Also, regarding the bass player. There is a funny story about them playing a university where the showrunners wanted the bass player to play behind a curtain. Brubeck was upset about it and tried to get them to change their minds, but they would not relent so he agreed. When the show started, with the bass player back stage, Dave said something along the lines of "tonight is a very special night. It is our bass players birthday, so we are going to put him out front and center!" And he played the whole show front-center stage.
The video is from a European tour done in the early1960's. There are many great videos available by the Dave Brubeck quartet from that tour. I highly recommend checking them out!
Take Five is the quintessential sound of West Coast Jazz. Jazz saxophone in particular, coming out of the East Coast was aggressive with emphatic squeals and shrill high notes. Paul Desmond's mellow, laid back style was called 'lyrical' while compositions became more melodic and less chaotic. The album, Time Out with this track landed Dave Brubeck on the cover of Time magazine. The only other Jazz musician to grace the cover of Time was Louis Armstrong. Brubeck was humbled and embarrassed. He called Duke Ellington and said 'It should have been you.' Since it's popularity solidified, West Coast Jazz became its own sub genre which included the works of Charles Mingus, Chet Baker and Stan Getz. Paul Desmond would perform a solo album down the road with the track Take Ten, which was his original composition that Brubeck rearranged into Take Five. Very much worth a listen. Keep in mind, this version is an extended improv and not the original studio track which only had an extended, unaccompanied drum solo.
Growing up listening to Dave I was always like “I love it! He is such a nerd, like me!” “Nerdy” as the man superficially looked the dude was a legit COWBOY in California. He always said that if he never played Jazz he would be out roping cattle. What a guy!
If you look up the song called The Wright Groove you will see Brubeck wrote the song just to showcase Eugene Wright's talent on the bass. The quartet has played many arrangements of Take Five and the difference in the arrangements is the solo played by Joe Morello. In one arrangement the other three musicians walk off stage and take a break. Morello's various solos on this song are what made it one of the greatest jazz songs in history. But if you look up The Wright Groove you will see that it was written for the bass player to be the soloist. He improvises through the whole song while the others lay the foundation for him. You will see Eugene Wright shine on The Wright Groove.
Yes, more jazz definitely. I grew up in Denmark, 30 miles south of Copenhagen. In the early to mid sixties when I was a teenager, Copenhagen was one of the jazz capitals to Europe. American jazz saxophonist Dexter Goron lived there and played in Club Montmatre, my friends and I would take the bus or train into to Copenhagen to hear him and others play. By the late sixties I was living in US as an au pair, and then got into rock and roll, The Doors, The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers was the first album of the Beatles I really liked, many other. However, I have never forgotten my first love, jazz.
First off, THANK YOU for this reaction. I LOVE these jazz classics. This standard literally rocked the jazz world in 1959 when it came out. But that year saw a plethora of incredible releases that also changed the landscape. This one brought jazz into the mainstream unlike possibly any other composition in jazz history. There are other videos on YT of Take Five, no two are alike. They are all great in their own way. I too wanted a bass solo. There is another recording on YT where the Mr. Wright gets a solo. But in that one, I got the feeling that he and Joe Morello on the drums were fighting for solo time and when Joe muscled in a bit too hard and took over on drums Eugene set his bass aside and walked off. I can't tell if he was just taking a break during Joe's solo or he was pissed off. It was just awkward to me. I could be completely off bass on this though.(get it?! Haha!) There WERE big ego issues in the quartet. Desmond and Morello clashed early on. Desmond didn't see the drums as solo worthy. The incredible live reactions from the crowds after those solos proved him wrong. I don't think race was much of an issue in jazz generally. Tee's take is spot on with the media of the day, though. And sadly there were other issues. Read this obit for "The Senator" Eugene Wright from the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/arts/music/eugene-wright-dead.html
I agree, was waiting for the bass solo as well. I also agree with what you said about the television people. Greetings from an old girl from Australia. Such a beautiful couple 💞🇦🇺
The hard fact of fitting three out of four experts on one radio length track leaving one nice guys solo out he may have even prepared for does not diminish his amazing solos in other songs. He played the bass here in this song as beautiful as anyone's ever played a fucking harp. He likes his job.
“Take Five” was the biggest hit from Brubeck's 1959 album “Time Out.” All of the songs on the album were in less common time signatures. That is, something other than 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4. As it’s name suggests, “Take Five” is in 5/4 time. If you try to count it out, you'll find that Dave's piano motif at the start and in the background throughout the song can be counted 1, 2, 3, 1, 2. The song was written by Paul Desmond, the saxophonist, though of course, in the manner of jazz, each musician improvised his own solos. If you compare this performance with the original studio recording, you'll see that the solos here are longer and quite different. This is one of the best selling jazz albums in history, and it led to a sequel a couple of years later called “Time Further Out.”
This track always reminds me of my father who died when I was a little boy. I never knew why. Then my older sister told me that my father who played sax would practice in the bathroom to this track when I was a toddler. So it has a special place for me. Nice to see others digging it.
Take Five & The DBQ revolutionized Jazz with the album Time Out in 1959, after that, odd time signatures began to appear in Jazz improvisation, taking the genre into new areas. Brubeck wanted to do an album of odd time signatures after his tour of Asia in 1958 and then Joe Morello the drummer requested something in the quintuple meter or 5/4 time and the reason Eugene Wright didn't have a solo is because it all started as a showcase for Morello, Dave's simple vamp on piano, and then Desmond's haunting and elegant Sax, all leading to Morello's solo. The omission of a Bass solo wasn't about race or time constraints met by an editor, and the editors didn't take the Bass solo out because it wasn't there in the original arrangement. In fact, it was composed by Desmond who wrote the music for the Sax part and arranged with Brubeck the rest of the piece and the first solo was the Sax and the second only solo was the Drums. I listened to this and Brubeck my entire childhood in the 60's soon after it came out, as well as Monk, Mingus, Miles and Herbie Mann, not to be confused with Manfred Mann, among others. Later versions and longer versions recorded by DBQ included long solos by every musician. Time Out was the first Jazz single to top 1 million in sales.
I love Jazz and it's great to see you two get into it. When I was in Highschool (mid 70's) it seemed every film they show us about driving had Take 5 as background music.
It was the 50s, they were confronted, for their bassist. But black people back then could not even sit in the bus where they want. Gladly times have changed. Greetings from Austria :-)
Nice to see your reaction! It's cool that you guys wanted a bass solo. Jazz musicians like myself joke that bass solos are the time for audiences to talk louder or go outside for a cigarrete. Audiences often don't seem to be very interested, or have the patience to listen very closely to bass solos. On many jazz songs, especially at that time, bass players don't get solos at all. They also didn't have amplifiers in clubs so it would have been very difficult to hear the bass solos. But, the bass was likely mic-ed and going through speakers for this performance,, so they should have given him a solo!
I remember this was released as a single and it made the Top Twenty pop charts in the UK. Can you imagine that happening today with all the homogenised pap that we are force fed? If you are interested, the way to understand the 5/4 time is to count 1-2-3/ 1-2. It's taken from the album called Time Out which I bought and still have.
If you like jazz, I'd recommend George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Second Rhapsody. These two pieces put jazz, as America's classical music, on the map. So much so that New York City has adopted Rhapsody in Blue to represent the city itself. If you want to hear something by a great American Composer check it out.
You had the courage to step off into the jazz genre and I applaud you for that. "Take Five" is a classic groove and is as good a place as any to start. This is a deep, deep rabbit hole if you're willing to take the plunge. Take a listen to Les McCann & Eddie Harris' "Compared To What" from Montreux, it's another classic (and probably a bit more approachable for the novice).
Take Five was one of, if not the first Jazz piece to cross over to mainstream popularity. Suggestion, a TH-cam video titled Jazz Portrait Thelonious Monk 1970. You will see something beautiful.
Take Five is iconic American Jazz and Dave Brubeck is the Iconic American Jazz Combo. This song - the melody has been used in the soundtracks of numerous movies. Even at the drum into it is unmistakable "Take Five"
Eugene Wright, the bassist, had plenty of solos throughout the Brubeck songbook. He just passed in 2020 at the age of 97. Brubeck was known for his stance against racism long before it was popular.
The master and his group, making it look simple back in the day. You have this subs vote for Jazz as often as you like. 🤘😎Start with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald up through today’s artists, such as the Marsalis family, Pat Metheny et al, and you’ll find unique compositions everywhere. 👈
I've been playing jazz for a long time, and I think Dave Brubeck is a good musician to react to. It's been sampled into a hip-hop track - I think I've heard it done at a club, if not mistaken. With a legendary jazz figure, check out Oscar Peterson playing "You Look Good to Me" with an unusual trio setting of 1 piano and 2 basses. Not jazz but Jake Shimabukuro - who can cover wide ranges of genres from rock/country/pop/jazz is a great musician to listen and react to. His covers of Beatles and Queen classics are absolute gold.
There is a nice interview with Gene Wright and he said that he was not interested to join Brubeck because "he didn't understand what they were doing at first." but when Dave asked him to just play with them, Gene said he figured out what they were doing and provided the base so they could do their 5/4 tempos. But Gene was only with them for the State Department tour and was not a permanent member of the band. To answer The Adventures of TNT, Gene didn't have a solo because he was not doing the 5/4 tempo that Brubeck, his Sax player Desmond (who pretty much came up with the line for Take Five), and Joe Morello all had their 5/4 go at it while Gene kept the baseline down.
This was my wedding song about 50 years ago. One of the most iconic, well known tunes in the Jazz world. Brubeck was into odd time signatures more than any other Jazz artists. This tune originally came from a unique Brubeck album entitled Time Out, within which each tune had it’s own somewhat off the beaten path beat.
As far as a bass solo remember this was a concert with more than one song being played and if I’m not mistaken the bassist does get solos during other songs. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the whole concert but I know it’s out there. Cheers
One of my all time favs! Originally I thought 'Take Five' was a reference to taking a break but learned later that it was an exercise in music with 5 beats in a bar. If you count you can see that.
Great start. Check out Pete Fountain and Al Hirt for NOLA jazz. Django Rhinehart and Stephen Grappelli for hot club jazz. Almost any Peanuts score. Diana Krall.
There is so much to explore in Jazz, there is the free form like this and Miles Davis, to Big Band, including the crooners, and even to New Age, Kenny G.
Love me some jazz! This song is a classic! Not only this original, but Al Jarreau's vocal cover as well. Check that one out for yourselves, even if you don't want to do a reaction on it, More jazz please!
This was a milestone in musical history because it crossed to all the generations that heard it. I remember sitting in the car with my dad and this came on the radio for the first time. We both fell in love with it on first hearing.
The bassist was holding that 5/4 groove down for everyone else to shine.
Bassist Eugene Wright clearly a heavyweight according to wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Wright
Right. Eugene was too busy working to show off with a solo.
He was holding the beat...
Brubeck himself wrote that Wright "grounded the group", allowing them "to play other tempos and do polyrhythmic things and he wouldn’t budge from this grounded beat".
I had a friend that was a jazz double bassist. I asked him why he seldom smiles on stage. He said it was he was busy counting
EXACTLY, Only a musician would understand the role of Mr. Wright! If you looked into eugene Wright, he wasn't fond of doing solo's. He was the glue and time keeper. The Man's playing was always spectacular on any of the Brubeck recordings.
As a musician, I can tell you that the bass carried the whole particular tune, and the group all know it, and if you play you will know this too. That was his job for this song. I guarantee you will hear Eugene Wright stepping up in other recordings. As a professional he understood the importance of when to shine and when not to. That's what makes a great musician. He was revered for his jazz talent.
I hope this does well enough to encourage you to do more Jazz, there's so much Id love to introduce you both to. MORE JAZZ!!!!!
Try Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione, a pop jazz artist; especially the long version.
I fourth and fifth Mr D’s comments. An underserved, under appreciated and under reacted to American musical art form.
More Jazz. Maybe try Fats Waller. Thanks
They HAVE sampled Steely Dan, though.
Greeeeaat choice.
Next, though, if you haven't, check out "School Days" by Stanley Clark.
P.S. I bet Neil Peart picked up on those beats?
Dave Brubeck, piano. Paul Desmond, sax. Joe Morello, drums. Eugene Wright, bass.
Years ago my wife and I were lucky enough to catch Dave (then in his 90s) at the Blue Note in NYC. What a show! He was kickin it, even at that age. Mad respect.
Saw him in his 80's in Philly - you're absolutely spot on - he was kicking it up to the day he died.
Drummer Joe Morello is one of the greats. It is amazing what he can do with just a basic kit
Sure, as a good musician, Mr Morello is in Heaven.
Plus, Joe was "blind like a bat". Well, not that bad, but his vision was impaired. Pop, like "West Coast" jazz, which Brubeck was part of.
I f----ing love the low kit. The dude from jinjer is awesome on it and even portnoy did his best work on a small kit with Transatlantic. (from a metal perspective) Still love me the huge kit of course.
The song and the group are legendary. Love it. ❤️👏👏👏
Tune. No words.
I was brought-up with Jazz thanks to my father. Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" had me take more than five and I still think it's one of the best songs ever written and performed.
I love jazz and will watch any reactions that you do to it. You should be aware that if you thought rock was a giant rabbit hole that you fell into, jazz is the grand canyon of rabbit holes. In addition to the classics that many people will recommend, there are great jazz recordings from 100+ years ago to today.
"the grand canyon of rabbit holes" 🎯
@@pickenchews I fell in that hole as a kid when my mom would play Benny Goodman's 'Boogie Woogie' on an old 78RPM record.
More like the Mariana Trench!! LOL
Great music, is great music. It doesn’t matter what genre. It all deserves a listen. ❤️
This album was a monster crossed over to mainstream charts very popular and introduced a whole generation to jazz. If you do more try Duke Ellington live at Newport Jazz Festival
The Duke at Newport is my favorite for sure...Paul Gonsalves sax solo just wow. I certainly will watch you react to jazz guys, thanks for all you do.
This album. I STOLE it from the radio station I worked for, and then someone stole it from me. No one is angry about it, 20 years later
YAY!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. The year was 1959. You don’t realize it now but in that year we got this album and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis which is whatever the next level above iconic is. From that album, maybe check out So What. Please, please, please, more classic and modern jazz. ✌️❤️🔥
“So What” has always been my favorite from Miles’s “Kind of Blue”.
And the year I was born!
We also had Ornette Coleman with The Shape of Jazz to Come and Charles Mingus with Ah Um. Quite a year for influential albums.
He did that drum solo in a suit and didn't break a sweat.
The shot of the back of Dave's head during the drum break *and* his rapt attention during his sax player's riffing illustrates for me his love of the experience. Dave's understated groove on the keys is mesmerizing for me.
One of the most influential pieces of music in the history of jazz. Love it. Thanks for playing!
Take 5 brought Jazz to the masses. From the smoky clubs to TV.
This whole album was great. Fun fact: this song was built around the drumbeat, Dave improvised the piano line to go along with it.
Love this tune! Absolutely iconic, great entry point for any jazz newbies!!!
When it comes to jazz I typically start out groovin to it & then lose interest about 5 to10 minutes in...glad I kept viewing for y'all bc I really enjoyed the drum solo!
I saw Dave Brubeck perform this song live in concert. I was and still am a huge Dave Brubeck fan.
Jazz is the history and seed of all our modern music. You wouldn't be where you are now without it. I love jazz.
Blues is the seed not jazz, jazz came from blues.
Modern music is mostly inspired by rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and funk. Disco and hip hop and edm come from that. Jazz was mixed in with all of those styles at a certain point but now jazz influence is very minimal in the past 2 or 3 decades
I see jazz as (American) black classical music - a unique gift to the world.
One of my favorite songs..period.
This is an iconic jaszz song; it OOZES Coolness. It's not the only jazz track to be set to 5/4 time, but it fits into it so organically, whereas in many cases a strange time signature is just a gimmick; showing off the writer's technical knowledge when it is not necessary. These other songs usually don't NEED to be in 5/4; they play them like a 4/4 bar with an extra quarter note tagged on to the end.
It's called Take Five because it's played in 5/4 time. (5 beats per measure, and the quarter note gets the beat)
Al Jarreau does a vocal version of this song that will blow your socks off...
Thanks for bringing jazz to the party.
This un was/Is a monster hit for mister Brubeck...a must listen for those doing serious research on classic jazz from the 50's era...Thank you TNT you guys are hot!
Another racially integrated band was Booker T and the MGs, they were the house band for Stax records and one day when a singer didn’t show the wrote and recorded the instrumental “Green Onions” out of boredom and it became a huge hit in 1961-62 and it was seen as blueprint for arranging music for a rock bands far into the future. There is an old b/w video of them live that’s really good. It’s not precisely Jazz but more RnB. It’s great trust me and all the old geezers know that song.
More jazz and fusion! Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Weather Report, Return To Forever, Eleventh House.
HUGE jazz fan here. Resounding YES to more Jazz! “Typically listening to jazz. You see jazz is music that does not compel, it’s free music. Wherever your hand goes the music goes.” ~Bob Marley~ #BlessUp 💚🕊🙏🏻
You're doing jazz!! Yes!! Aw mann, i hope this is the beginning of a new adventure for yall! I have so many suggestions 😂 🍻
Take 5 was played during many movie intermissions with images of popcorn, candy, and pop dancing on the screen. Back then a quarter would get you 2 feature films and a cartoon. At drive-in theaters a dollar would get a entire car full of people in.
Glad to see you getting into jazz. I've loved it since I was exposed to it as a kid though Charlie Brown specials and The Cosby Show.
I've got Dave Brubeks Greatest Hits in my car's cd player right as we speak.
a timeless classic!!!!!! Many videos on the drumming about this song
Isn't it wonderful !!!. Take five . I just love the way you two are feeling it 2 seconds in , the shoulders start the move and the smiles follow. Thank you for perusing this great track .
This is a jazz classic and true innovation! Paul Desmond on sax, Dave on piano, Joe Morello on drums- I forgot who was on bass!
Dave’s sound had a classical feel to it.
Joe Morello was the drummer, Eugene Wright played bass.
@@John_Chu yup- had a brain fart!
Love this. I remember listening to these guys on an old radio when I was a kid.
I played the clarinet in band 5 years and drummed and guitar 🎸 this pop music great live band and you listen more they funky jazz music great listen
Thanks for reacting to jazz and great choice to start: Brubeck was an innovator and Paul Desmond had one of the most gorgeous sounds and melodic sensibility of anyone who has played saxophone.
I get Tasha's frustration in not hearing the bass player solo too; to remedy that, I'd recommend one of the all-time great live jazz tracks and perhaps the first to feature a bass player not only playing rhythm but jamming in a solo too thanks to another innovator, pianist Bill Evans, who brought under his wing a brilliant, young bass player, Scott LeFaro, playing at the consummate NYC jazz club, The Village Vanguard. The two played the club in 1961 and Scott's solo is considered groundbreaking. Only 25-years-old, Scott was tragically killed a month after the recording when a car in which he was a passenger crashed.
His death broke the heart of Evans, who was suffer from addiction and ill health the rest of his life, but Evans, in the mind of many, is the most influential jazz pianist of the past 75 years -> he work still shapes pianists and jazz trios today. Here's a favorite from their recording, an original composition by Evans, Waltz for Debby.
th-cam.com/video/hkTgDfexBKM/w-d-xo.html
Bring on the jazz! Duke, Basie, Ella, Miles, Mingus, Herbie, Coltrane, Weather Report, Jaco, Chick... there is an endless amount of amazing jazz music out there to react to. I hope this gets the views to start you on a fun journey.
At this time in jazz, there weren't too many bass solos. The focus was usually on horns or keys and sometimes drums. Joe Morello was an absolutely amazing drummer. He kind of changed the game with the odd time signatures that they were writing.
Also, regarding the bass player. There is a funny story about them playing a university where the showrunners wanted the bass player to play behind a curtain. Brubeck was upset about it and tried to get them to change their minds, but they would not relent so he agreed.
When the show started, with the bass player back stage, Dave said something along the lines of "tonight is a very special night. It is our bass players birthday, so we are going to put him out front and center!" And he played the whole show front-center stage.
Great stuff!
The video is from a European tour done in the early1960's. There are many great videos available by the Dave Brubeck quartet from that tour. I highly recommend checking them out!
Take Five is the quintessential sound of West Coast Jazz. Jazz saxophone in particular, coming out of the East Coast was aggressive with emphatic squeals and shrill high notes. Paul Desmond's mellow, laid back style was called 'lyrical' while compositions became more melodic and less chaotic. The album, Time Out with this track landed Dave Brubeck on the cover of Time magazine. The only other Jazz musician to grace the cover of Time was Louis Armstrong. Brubeck was humbled and embarrassed. He called Duke Ellington and said 'It should have been you.' Since it's popularity solidified, West Coast Jazz became its own sub genre which included the works of Charles Mingus, Chet Baker and Stan Getz. Paul Desmond would perform a solo album down the road with the track Take Ten, which was his original composition that Brubeck rearranged into Take Five. Very much worth a listen. Keep in mind, this version is an extended improv and not the original studio track which only had an extended, unaccompanied drum solo.
One of the best songs of all time. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
👍❤🤙
Some other great jazz classics to start with are:
Miles Davis, "Kinda Blue".
Benny Goodman, "Sing, Sing, Sing".
George Gershwin, "Rhapsody in Blue".
One of the best jazz songs of all time: "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" -Duke Ellington, Live Newport Jazz Festival 1956
Growing up listening to Dave I was always like “I love it! He is such a nerd, like me!” “Nerdy” as the man superficially looked the dude was a legit COWBOY in California. He always said that if he never played Jazz he would be out roping cattle. What a guy!
Word is that he was inspired to compose this after watching whirling dervishes.
If you look up the song called The Wright Groove you will see Brubeck wrote the song just to showcase Eugene Wright's talent on the bass. The quartet has played many arrangements of Take Five and the difference in the arrangements is the solo played by Joe Morello. In one arrangement the other three musicians walk off stage and take a break. Morello's various solos on this song are what made it one of the greatest jazz songs in history. But if you look up The Wright Groove you will see that it was written for the bass player to be the soloist. He improvises through the whole song while the others lay the foundation for him. You will see Eugene Wright shine on The Wright Groove.
Yes, more jazz definitely. I grew up in Denmark, 30 miles south of Copenhagen. In the early to mid sixties when I was a teenager, Copenhagen was one of the jazz capitals to Europe. American jazz saxophonist Dexter Goron lived there and played in Club Montmatre, my friends and I would take the bus or train into to Copenhagen to hear him and others play. By the late sixties I was living in US as an au pair, and then got into rock and roll, The Doors, The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers was the first album of the Beatles I really liked, many other. However, I have never forgotten my first love, jazz.
First off, THANK YOU for this reaction. I LOVE these jazz classics. This standard literally rocked the jazz world in 1959 when it came out. But that year saw a plethora of incredible releases that also changed the landscape. This one brought jazz into the mainstream unlike possibly any other composition in jazz history.
There are other videos on YT of Take Five, no two are alike. They are all great in their own way. I too wanted a bass solo. There is another recording on YT where the Mr. Wright gets a solo. But in that one, I got the feeling that he and Joe Morello on the drums were fighting for solo time and when Joe muscled in a bit too hard and took over on drums Eugene set his bass aside and walked off. I can't tell if he was just taking a break during Joe's solo or he was pissed off. It was just awkward to me. I could be completely off bass on this though.(get it?! Haha!)
There WERE big ego issues in the quartet. Desmond and Morello clashed early on. Desmond didn't see the drums as solo worthy. The incredible live reactions from the crowds after those solos proved him wrong. I don't think race was much of an issue in jazz generally. Tee's take is spot on with the media of the day, though. And sadly there were other issues. Read this obit for "The Senator" Eugene Wright from the New York Times:
www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/arts/music/eugene-wright-dead.html
I agree, was waiting for the bass solo as well.
I also agree with what you said about the television people. Greetings from an old girl from Australia. Such a beautiful couple 💞🇦🇺
Jazz lover here. I’ll explore any jazz you choose with you. Take Five is a fabulous choice.
The hard fact of fitting three out of four experts on one radio length track leaving one nice guys solo out he may have even prepared for does not diminish his amazing solos in other songs. He played the bass here in this song as beautiful as anyone's ever played a fucking harp. He likes his job.
Ooooh, thank you so much! Such a wonderful memory. Yes I a was around then. My parents listened to them. I listened and loved.
Love the jazz ya'll! I'd love to hear you react to Miles Davis' Freddie Freeloader from Kind of Blue!
From here till 1000 years we loving this
If you like bass players, a couple names to know are Ron Carter & Charles Mingus.
“Take Five” was the biggest hit from Brubeck's 1959 album “Time Out.” All of the songs on the album were in less common time signatures. That is, something other than 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4. As it’s name suggests, “Take Five” is in 5/4 time. If you try to count it out, you'll find that Dave's piano motif at the start and in the background throughout the song can be counted 1, 2, 3, 1, 2. The song was written by Paul Desmond, the saxophonist, though of course, in the manner of jazz, each musician improvised his own solos. If you compare this performance with the original studio recording, you'll see that the solos here are longer and quite different. This is one of the best selling jazz albums in history, and it led to a sequel a couple of years later called “Time Further Out.”
This track always reminds me of my father who died when I was a little boy. I never knew why. Then my older sister told me that my father who played sax would practice in the bathroom to this track when I was a toddler. So it has a special place for me. Nice to see others digging it.
Take Five & The DBQ revolutionized Jazz with the album Time Out in 1959, after that, odd time signatures began to appear in Jazz improvisation, taking the genre into new areas. Brubeck wanted to do an album of odd time signatures after his tour of Asia in 1958 and then Joe Morello the drummer requested something in the quintuple meter or 5/4 time and the reason Eugene Wright didn't have a solo is because it all started as a showcase for Morello, Dave's simple vamp on piano, and then Desmond's haunting and elegant Sax, all leading to Morello's solo. The omission of a Bass solo wasn't about race or time constraints met by an editor, and the editors didn't take the Bass solo out because it wasn't there in the original arrangement. In fact, it was composed by Desmond who wrote the music for the Sax part and arranged with Brubeck the rest of the piece and the first solo was the Sax and the second only solo was the Drums. I listened to this and Brubeck my entire childhood in the 60's soon after it came out, as well as Monk, Mingus, Miles and Herbie Mann, not to be confused with Manfred Mann, among others. Later versions and longer versions recorded by DBQ included long solos by every musician. Time Out was the first Jazz single to top 1 million in sales.
I love Jazz and it's great to see you two get into it. When I was in Highschool (mid 70's) it seemed every film they show us about driving had Take 5 as background music.
This is one of the all time great jazz tunes. Could listen to this for hours. So easy on the ears. Thanks for this. Loved it. 👏👏❤️
It was the 50s, they were confronted, for their bassist. But black people back then could not even sit in the bus where they want. Gladly times have changed.
Greetings from Austria :-)
Nice to see your reaction! It's cool that you guys wanted a bass solo. Jazz musicians like myself joke that bass solos are the time for audiences to talk louder or go outside for a cigarrete. Audiences often don't seem to be very interested, or have the patience to listen very closely to bass solos. On many jazz songs, especially at that time, bass players don't get solos at all. They also didn't have amplifiers in clubs so it would have been very difficult to hear the bass solos. But, the bass was likely mic-ed and going through speakers for this performance,, so they should have given him a solo!
It's amazing how these group of guys who all look like accountants have soooo much grooooove!!!!!!!
I remember this was released as a single and it made the Top Twenty pop charts in the UK. Can you imagine that happening today with all the homogenised pap that we are force fed? If you are interested, the way to understand the 5/4 time is to count 1-2-3/ 1-2. It's taken from the album called Time Out which I bought and still have.
For the record, the drummer (Joe Morello) was born visually impaired, which makes his drumming all the more astonishing.
If you like jazz, I'd recommend George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Second Rhapsody. These two pieces put jazz, as America's classical music, on the map. So much so that New York City has adopted Rhapsody in Blue to represent the city itself. If you want to hear something by a great American Composer check it out.
More jazz. Try Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of Body And Soul, a tenor sax masterpiece, and Louis Armstrong's 1928 recording of West End Blues.
You had the courage to step off into the jazz genre and I applaud you for that. "Take Five" is a classic groove and is as good a place as any to start. This is a deep, deep rabbit hole if you're willing to take the plunge. Take a listen to Les McCann & Eddie Harris' "Compared To What" from Montreux, it's another classic (and probably a bit more approachable for the novice).
Love your reactions!!
Joe Morello,a renaissance man playing the drums!!!❤️❤️😎😎
That's Dave Brubek on Piano, Paul Desmond on sax, Joe Morello on drums and Eugene Wright on Bass.
Take Five was one of, if not the first Jazz piece to cross over to mainstream popularity. Suggestion, a TH-cam video titled Jazz Portrait Thelonious Monk 1970. You will see something beautiful.
One of the greatest jazz innovators ever
Man!! Some David Sanborn would be great!
I really love Jazz and this track in particular
Take Five is iconic American Jazz and Dave Brubeck is the Iconic American Jazz Combo. This song - the melody has been used in the soundtracks of numerous movies. Even at the drum into it is unmistakable "Take Five"
Eugene Wright, the bassist, had plenty of solos throughout the Brubeck songbook. He just passed in 2020 at the age of 97. Brubeck was known for his stance against racism long before it was popular.
Love jazz! This is classic! You’re on the right track! Wait till you see how it developed in the 70s! Chick Correa, Weather report, and more!
The master and his group, making it look simple back in the day. You have this subs vote for Jazz as often as you like. 🤘😎Start with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald up through today’s artists, such as the Marsalis family, Pat Metheny et al, and you’ll find unique compositions everywhere. 👈
From the begining your smiles say it all.
I've been playing jazz for a long time, and I think Dave Brubeck is a good musician to react to. It's been sampled into a hip-hop track - I think I've heard it done at a club, if not mistaken.
With a legendary jazz figure, check out Oscar Peterson playing "You Look Good to Me" with an unusual trio setting of 1 piano and 2 basses.
Not jazz but Jake Shimabukuro - who can cover wide ranges of genres from rock/country/pop/jazz is a great musician to listen and react to. His covers of Beatles and Queen classics are absolute gold.
There is a nice interview with Gene Wright and he said that he was not interested to join Brubeck because "he didn't understand what they were doing at first." but when Dave asked him to just play with them, Gene said he figured out what they were doing and provided the base so they could do their 5/4 tempos. But Gene was only with them for the State Department tour and was not a permanent member of the band. To answer The Adventures of TNT, Gene didn't have a solo because he was not doing the 5/4 tempo that Brubeck, his Sax player Desmond (who pretty much came up with the line for Take Five), and Joe Morello all had their 5/4 go at it while Gene kept the baseline down.
This was my wedding song about 50 years ago. One of the most iconic, well known tunes in the Jazz world. Brubeck was into odd time signatures more than any other Jazz artists. This tune originally came from a unique Brubeck album entitled Time Out, within which each tune had it’s own somewhat off the beaten path beat.
As far as a bass solo remember this was a concert with more than one song being played and if I’m not mistaken the bassist does get solos during other songs. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the whole concert but I know it’s out there. Cheers
I always wanted a bass solo in this track too, you're not alone!
Magnificent tune and he had many followers in progressive rock, fusion and modern jazz !
Mainstream jazz is more accessible than most people think. For instance, a lot of Sade songs are jazz.
One of my all time favs! Originally I thought 'Take Five' was a reference to taking a break but learned later that it was an exercise in music with 5 beats in a bar. If you count you can see that.
Great start. Check out Pete Fountain and Al Hirt for NOLA jazz. Django Rhinehart and Stephen Grappelli for hot club jazz. Almost any Peanuts score. Diana Krall.
MASTER DRUMMER Joe Morello. One of the best ever to pick up a pair of drum sticks.
There is so much to explore in Jazz, there is the free form like this and Miles Davis, to Big Band, including the crooners, and even to New Age, Kenny G.
There's hot jazz, and there's cool jazz - this is the definition of cool jazz.
Love me some jazz! This song is a classic! Not only this original, but Al Jarreau's vocal cover as well. Check that one out for yourselves, even if you don't want to do a reaction on it, More jazz please!
There's jazz and then there's cool jazz. This is what "Take Five" is.
This was a milestone in musical history because it crossed to all the generations that heard it. I remember sitting in the car with my dad and this came on the radio for the first time. We both fell in love with it on first hearing.
Ain't nothing like Dave and the boys live at Carnegie Hall in 1963
This was the music of my father’s youth that made its way into our home when I was growing up. Lifelong Brubeck fan.