Time Out - Out Again

Some albums deserve to be in every music listener's collection, no matter their age, their typical listening preference, their shoe size, or whether they preferred the Munsters or the Adams Family (I fall in the latter category). Time Out easily fits the bill. It's a jazz masterpiece that even jazz illiterates can joyfully appreciate, and as a result, one of the best selling jazz albums of all time.

Recorded in 1959, the album was Dave Brubeck's crowning masterpiece to a career that is still alive today. It's name comes from the fact that in its seven unique tunes, Brubeck and his quartet played with the very foundation of jazz music at the time. They skillfully moved beyond the standard 4/4 and 3/4 time signatures (time signatures are the numbers of beat per measure that are played) that were so prevelant and explored unconventional meters that even with their complexity were warmly received by the listening public while simultaneously dismissed by critics. Take Five, the album's third track, was in fact the first million selling jazz single.

And now, 50 years later, Columbia Records has released a Legacy Edition of the album which, besides containing the album's original seven tracks on one disc, also includes a second disc with eight previously unreleased live recordings from the Newport Jazz Festival from 1961, '63, and '64, AND a third DVD disc with an interview with Brubeck on the making of the album, some performance footage of the group, an animated photo gallery, and an animated piano demonstration. Packaged along with the discs are some phenomenal liner notes on the band and the history of the album.

So, in other words, IF you don't already have this timeless album, here's your chance to check out what you've been missing. Already have the album? There's enough here to warrant picking it up again.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five (live) : Time Out (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition Disc 2 - Live At Newport 1961, 1963, 1964)

Visit his website and the re-release's label Legacy Recordings.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Martin Denny - Take Five (Dave Brubeck cover) : A Taste of Honey