Take Five

{{short description|Jazz standard recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Take Five

| cover = 45 label for "Take Five".jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Dave Brubeck Quartet

| album = Time Out

| B-side = Blue Rondo à la Turk

| released = {{Start date|1959|09|21}};
May 22, 1961 (reissue)

| recorded = July 1, 1959

| studio = CBS 30th Street, New York City

| genre =

| length = {{ubl|{{Duration|m=2|s=55}} (single version)|{{Duration|m=5|s=28}} (album version)}}

| label = Columbia 4-41479

| composer = Paul Desmond

| producer = Teo Macero

| prev_title = Jazz Impressions of Eurasia

| prev_year = 1958

| title2 = Blue Rondo à la Turk

| next_title = Camptown Races

| next_title2 = Short'nin' Bread

| next_year = 1959

}}

"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond in 5 beat per measure, the melody relying on the blues scale, with harmony E-flat minor. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.{{Cite news |last=Russonello |first=Giovanni |date=2020-12-07 |title='Take Five' Is Impeccable. 'Time Outtakes' Shows How Dave Brubeck Made It. – An album of previously unheard recordings from the "Time Out" sessions in 1959 reveals the making of a masterpiece. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/music/dave-brubeck-time-outtakes-review.html |url-status=live |access-date=2020-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425123552/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/music/dave-brubeck-time-outtakes-review.html |archive-date=2021-04-25}}{{Cite news |last=Schudel |first=Matt |date=2012-05-12 |title=Dave Brubeck, 'Take Five', and his longtime collaborator credited with the jazz legend's biggest hit |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/dave-brubeck-take-five-and-his-longtime-collaborator-credited-with-the-jazz-legends-biggest-hit/2012/12/05/6ae17f16-3f19-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_blog.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723092807/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/dave-brubeck-take-five-and-his-longtime-collaborator-credited-with-the-jazz-legends-biggest-hit/2012/12/05/6ae17f16-3f19-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_blog.html |archive-date=2015-07-23}} Frequently covered by a variety of artists, the track is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, and is often regarded as the greatest jazz standard of all time.{{cite web |title=Jazz 88.5 Best Jazz songs |url=https://www.jazz88.fm/2024/09/03/jazz88-5s-best-jazz-songs-of-all-time/ |website=Jazz 88.5}}{{cite web |title=Jazz24 best jazz songs of all time |url=https://www.jazz24.org/the-jazz-100 |website=Jazz24}}

Dave Brubeck was inspired to create an album based on odd time signatures during his state-sponsored 1958 Eurasia trip. The track was written after the Quartet's drummer, Joe Morello, requested a song in Quintuple meter. Desmond composed the melodies on Morello's rhythms while Brubeck arranged the song. The track's name is derived from its meter, and the injunction, "Take five", meaning "take a break for five minutes". The track is written in E-flat minor and is in ternary (ABA) form.

Released as a promotional single in September 1959, "Take Five" became a sleeper hit in 1961, and then went on to become the biggest-selling jazz single of all time. The track still receives significant radio airplay.

Background and recording

The Dave Brubeck Quartet's U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia in 1958 inspired Brubeck to create an album, Time Out, that experimented with odd time signatures like ones he had encountered abroad.{{Cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Fred |url=https://archive.org/details/1959yearthatchan00kapl/page/130 |title=1959: The Year that Changed Everything |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-470-38781-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/1959yearthatchan00kapl/page/130 130–131] |author-link=Fred Kaplan (journalist) |url-access=registration}}{{Cite web |last=Schudel |first=Matt |date=2008-04-06 |title=Ambassador of Cool |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040303366.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905175542/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040303366.html |archive-date=2017-09-05 |access-date=2018-06-12 |website=washingtonpost.com}} "Take Five" was composed after most of the album's music had been written. The Quartet's drummer, Joe Morello, frequently soloed in Quintuple meter and asked Brubeck to compose a new piece to showcase his ability. Brubeck delegated Desmond to write a tune using Morello's rhythm.{{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=Doug |title=Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond |date=2005-02-01 |publisher=Parkside Publications |isbn=978-0-9617266-7-6 |location=Seattle |page=207}} Desmond composed two melodies,{{efn|Desmond's second, bridge melody converts the first five notes of the song "Sunday, Monday, or Always" (a 1943 chart-topper for Bing Crosby) into a rhythmically-altered four-note hook,{{Cite book |last=Giddins |first=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qpPDwAAQBAJ&q=Bing+Crosby%3A+Swinging+on+a+Star%3A+The+War+Years%2C+1940-1946 |title=Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star: The War Years, 1940–1946 |date=2018-10-30 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-41235-3 |access-date=2020-08-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310010320/https://books.google.com/books?id=-qpPDwAAQBAJ&q=Bing+Crosby%3A+Swinging+on+a+Star%3A+The+War+Years%2C+1940-1946 |archive-date=2023-03-10 |url-status=live}} repeated during a four-bar chord progression that descends diatonically (C{{flat}}⁷-B{{flat}}m⁷-A{{flat}}m⁷-G{{flat}}⁷).}} which Brubeck arranged in ternary form.{{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=Doug |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCwIAQAAMAAJ |title=Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond |date=2005-02-01 |publisher=Parkside Publications |isbn=978-0-9617266-7-6 |location=Seattle |page=208 |access-date=2020-01-26}}

The Quartet first tried recording "Take Five" on June 25, 1959. It proved so arduous that, after 40 minutes and more than 20 failed attempts, producer Teo Macero suspended the effort because one or another of the members kept losing the beat. This iteration of the tune used a different rhythmic groove than the final version; it was "driving and fast" with a "lopsided Latin rhythm".{{Cite news |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |date=2020-02-08 |title=Take one: lost Dave Brubeck tapes reveal jazz hit originally sounded like 'a bad student band' |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/feb/08/jazz-dave-brubeck-band-take-five-rehearsal-tapes-bad-student-band |access-date=2023-03-25 |issn=0029-7712}} They successfully recorded the single and the album track in two takes at the next session on July 1.{{Cite book |last=Stephen A. Crist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dParDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |title=Dave Brubeck's Time Out |date=2019-09-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-021771-6 |page=117}} Desmond considered the track a "throwaway". The Quartet first played "Take Five" for a live audience at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 5, 1959.

Composition

{{Listen

| type = music

| filename = Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five.ogg

| title = "Take Five"

| description = 30-second music sample encompassing both main and bridge melodies

| pos = right

}}

"Take Five" is written in the key of E-flat minor,{{cite web |last1=Brubeck |first1=Dave |last2=Paul |first2=Desmond |date= 23 September 2002|title=Take Five Sheet Music (Digital Download) |url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0042852 |accessdate= |publisher=Musicnotes.com. Derry Music Corporation |authorlink2=}} in ternary (ABA) form and in quintuple ({{music|time|5|4}}) time. According to Alfred Publishing's sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, the song has a moderately fast tempo of 176 beats per minute. The song is known for its distinctive two-chord piano/bass vamp (E{{flat}}m-B{{flat}}m⁷), cool jazz saxophone melodies, drum solo,{{efn|Featured in the album version but not the single.}} and unorthodox meter, from which Dave Brubeck derived its name.{{Cite news |last=Sarabia |first=Tony |date=2000-11-19 |title=The Story Of Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five' |work=NPR.org |publisher=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/2000/11/19/1114201/take-five |url-status=live |access-date=2020-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017111613/http://www.npr.org/2000/11/19/1114201/take-five |archive-date=2017-10-17}}{{Cite web |last=Canter |first=Andrea |date=2008-05-20 |title=Take "Time Out" for Dave Brubeck: At Orchestra Hall, May 25th |url=http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/7210/115/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117160105/http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/7210/115 |archive-date=2010-01-17 |access-date=2011-01-18 |website=Jazz Police}} Desmond believed the borderline decision to retain his bridge melody was key to the tune gaining popularity.{{cite book |last=Ramsey |first=Doug |title=Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond |date=February 1, 2005 |publisher=Parkside Publications |isbn=978-0-9617266-7-6 |location=Seattle |page=208}}

Rhythmically, the five beats to the bar are split unevenly into 3 + 2 quarter notes; that is, the main accents (and chord changes) are on the first and fourth beats. The album version has ten sections:{{Cite book |last=Lawn |first=Richard J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sW2k-9sth7IC&pg=PA237 |title=Experiencing Jazz |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781135042684 |page=237}}{{Cite report |url=http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/14141/austinbarnes2012.pdf;jsessionid=4EEDC54A3A4EE9747EB98CDBAABBEFE1?sequence=8 |title=Analysis of selected percussion literature: Concerto for vibraphone and orchestra by Ney Rosauro, Surface tension by Dave Hollinden, Urban sketches for percussion trio by Lon W. Chaffin, "Take Five" by Paul Desmond, and DT supreme by Austin Barnes |last=Barnes |first=Austin Lee |publisher=Kansas State University |location=Manhattan, Kansas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017114711/http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/14141/austinbarnes2012.pdf;jsessionid=4EEDC54A3A4EE9747EB98CDBAABBEFE1?sequence=8 |archive-date=2017-10-17 |format=PDF |url-status=live |year=2012}}

Section	Description
class="wikitable"
Intro	Drum enters, joined by piano after 4 bars and bass after 8 bars to set up {{music\|time\|5\|4}} rhythm with syncopated two-chord (E{{music\|flat}}m–B{{music\|flat}}m⁷) vamp
AA	Alto sax plays main melody (A), based on E{{music\|flat}}-minor hexatonic blues scale,{{efn\|With one added note, F{{music\|natural}}.}} in two similar 4-bar phrases
BB	Alto sax plays bridge melody (B), based on G-flat major scale, in two similar 4-bar phrases
AA	Reprise
Solo 1	Alto sax plays improvised modal{{Cite book \|last=Crist \|first=Stephen A. \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cvarDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 \|title=Dave Brubeck's Time Out \|date=2019-09-04 \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|isbn=978-0-19-021773-0 \|page=108}} solo, based on E{{music\|flat}}-minor hexatonic blues scale,{{efn\|With two extra notes, F{{music\|natural}} and C{{music\|natural}}. By contrast, Crist (2019) classifies Desmond's solo as based on the B{{music\|flat}}-minor Aeolian scale with one added note, A{{music\|natural}} (the 'blue note' of the E{{music\|flat}}-minor hexatonic blues scale).}} over vamp{{efn\|There is an edit in the album track at 2:00 (4 bars after the saxophone solo ends), perhaps to remove a piano solo or to splice the two best solos together.{{Cite book \|last=Clark \|first=Philip \|title=Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time \|date=2020-02-18 \|publisher=Hachette Books \|isbn=978-0-306-92165-0}}}}
Solo 2	Drum fades in playing improvised solo, halfway through which the vamp abruptly crescendoes before fading down to near-silence as solo ends
AA	Reprise, cued by intro vamp played softly before alto sax swiftly rejoins with main melody
BB	Reprise
AA	Reprise
Tag	Alto sax plays repeated 4-note riffs from main melody, ending with final note sustained for 3 bars over vamp

Release and chart success

File:Paul Desmond from Carl Van Vechten collection.pngAlthough released as a promotional{{Cite book |last=Crist |first=Stephen A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dParDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA190 |title=Dave Brubeck's Time Out |date=2019-09-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-190-21772-3 |page=190}} single on September 21, 1959,{{efn|Almost three months before its parent album Time Out was itself released.}} "Take Five" became a sleeper hit in 1961. In May 1961, the track was reissued for radio play and jukebox use,{{Cite book |last=Crist |first=Stephen A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dParDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA191 |title=Dave Brubeck's Time Out |date=2019-09-04 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-190-21772-3 |page=191}} partly in response to its heavy rotation on the radio station WNEW in New York City.{{Cite magazine |date=28 April 1962 |title=Best Selling Jazz Albums |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IhYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12 |magazine=Billboard |page=12 |issn=0006-2510}} That year, it reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 (October 9),{{Cite web |title=Dave Brubeck Chart History |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1961-10-09 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219101205/https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1961-10-09 |archive-date=2018-02-19 |access-date=2018-06-11 |publisher=Billboard.com}}{{efn|Its parent album Time Out, likewise reissued in 1961, peaked on November 27 that year at No. 2 on the Billboard Monaural LPs chart (behind only Judy at Carnegie Hall by Judy Garland).}} No. 5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart (October 23){{Cite web |title=Dave Brubeck Take Five Chart History |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/dave-brubeck/chart-history/asi/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519172116/https://www.billboard.com/artist/dave-brubeck/chart-history/asi/ |archive-date=2022-05-19 |access-date=2018-06-11 |publisher=Billboard.com}} and No. 6 on the UK Record Retailer chart (November 16).{{Cite web |title=Official Singles Chart Top 50 1961 |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19611116/7501/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801033258/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19611116/7501/ |archive-date=2017-08-01 |access-date=2017-04-21 |publisher=Officialcharts.com}} In 1962, it peaked at No. 8 both in the New Zealand Lever Hit Parade (January 11){{Cite web |title=Lever Hit Parade – 11 Jan 1962 |url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=Lever%20hit%20parades&qyear=1962&qmonth=Jan&qweek=11-Jan-1962#n_view_location |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160602215550/http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=Lever%20hit%20parades&qyear=1962&qmonth=Jan&qweek=11-Jan-1962%23n_view_location |archive-date=June 2, 2016 |access-date=May 11, 2021 |publisher=Flavour of New Zealand}} and the Dutch Single Top 100 (February 17).{{Cite web |title=Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five |url=https://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Dave+Brubeck+Quartet&titel=Take+Five&cat=s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817113730/http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Dave+Brubeck+Quartet&titel=Take+Five&cat=s |archive-date=August 17, 2016 |access-date=May 11, 2021 |publisher=Dutch Charts |language=nl}} The single is a different recording from the LP version and omits most of the drum solo.{{Cite AV media notes |title=Soundtrack to a Century – Jazz: The Definitive Performances |type=Liner notes |first=Phil |last=Schaap |year=1999 |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment, Columbia/Legacy |id=J2K 65807}} It became the first jazz single to surpass a million in sales,{{Cite web |last=Tawney |first=Raj |date=2019-12-13 |title=The Dave Brubeck Quartet's 'Time Out' at 60: Inside Jazz's First Million-Selling LP |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8545907/dave-brubeck-quartet-time-out |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315190207/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8545907/dave-brubeck-quartet-time-out |archive-date=2020-03-15 |access-date=2020-06-15 |website=billboard.com}} reaching two million by the time Brubeck disbanded his 'classic' quartet in December 1967.{{Cite news |last=Feather |first=Leonard |date=1967-07-30 |title=The End of an Era in Modern Jazz |work=Los Angeles Times}}

Columbia Records quickly enlisted "Take Five" in their doomed launch of the {{frac|33|1|3}}-rpm stereo single in the marketplace. Together with a unique stereo edit of "Blue Rondo à la Turk", they pressed the full album version in small numbers for a promotional six-pack of singles sent to DJs in late 1959.{{Cite web |last=Callahan |first=Mike |date=2016-02-13 |title=The Stereo Singles Project, Part 2: Stereo-33 Singles Discography (1959–1964) |url=https://www.bsnpubs.com/stereoproject/stereo33s.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200210032901/http://www.bsnpubs.com/stereoproject/stereo33s.html |archive-date=2020-02-10 |access-date=2020-01-30 |website=bsn.com |publisher=Both Sides Now Publications}}

News of Brubeck's death on December 5, 2012, rekindled the popularity of "Take Five" across Europe, the single debuting in the Austrian Top 40 at No. 73 (December 14){{Cite web |title=Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five |url=https://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Dave+Brubeck+Quartet&titel=Take+Five&cat=s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223050051/https://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Dave+Brubeck+Quartet&titel=Take+Five&cat=s |archive-date=December 23, 2018 |access-date=May 11, 2021 |publisher=Ö3 Austria Top 40 |language=de}} and the French Singles Chart at No. 48 (December 15){{Cite web |title=Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five |url=https://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Dave+Brubeck+Quartet&titel=Take+Five&cat=s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612012125/https://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Dave+Brubeck+Quartet&titel=Take+Five&cat=s |archive-date=June 12, 2020 |access-date=May 11, 2021 |publisher=Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique |language=fr}} while re-entering the Dutch charts at No. 50 (December 15).

scope="col"\|Chart !scope="col"\|Peak position
class="wikitable sortable" \|+Chart performance for "Take Five"
scope="row"\|US Billboard Hot 100 \| style="text-align:center;"\|25
scope="row"\|US Billboard Easy Listening \| style="text-align:center;"\|5
{{single chart \|UK\|6\|song=Take Five\|artist=Dave Brubeck Quartet\|date=19611116\|rowheader=true}}
scope="row"\|New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade) \| style="text-align:center;"\|8
scope="row"\|Australia (Kent Music Report){{Cite web \|title=AMR Top Singles of 1961 \|url=https://www.top100singles.net/2013/11/amr-top-singles-of-1961.html \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017194913/https://www.top100singles.net/2013/11/amr-top-singles-of-1961.html \|archive-date=2021-10-17 \|access-date=2021-10-17}} \| style="text-align:center;"\|7
{{single chart \|Dutch100\|8\|song=Take Five\|artist=Dave Brubeck Quartet\|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart \|Austria\|73\|song=Take Five\|artist=Dave Brubeck Quartet\|rowheader=true}}
{{single chart \|France\|48\|song=Take Five\|artist=Dave Brubeck Quartet\|rowheader=true}}

Future within the Quartet

The saxophonist, Desmond, wrote and recorded the similar-sounding (and similarly named) composition "Take Ten" for his 1963 solo album Take Ten;{{Cite web |last=Zimmerman |first=Brian |date=November 25, 2019 |title=Song of the Day: Paul Desmond – "Take Ten" |url=https://www.jazziz.com/song-of-the-day-paul-desmond-take-ten/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620104157/https://www.jazziz.com/song-of-the-day-paul-desmond-take-ten/ |archive-date=June 20, 2021 |access-date=March 9, 2022 |website=Jazziz}} he released another rendition of "Take Ten" on his 1973 album Skylark. Over the next 50 years the group re-recorded it many times, and typically used it to close concerts: each member, upon completing his solo, would leave the stage as in Haydn's Farewell Symphony until only the drummer remained ("Take Five" having been composed to feature Morello's mastery of {{music|time|5|4}} time).{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Dave Brubeck |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dave-Brubeck |access-date=2015-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612153932/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dave-Brubeck |archive-date=2018-06-12 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Thursby |first=Keith |date=2011-03-14 |title=Joe Morello dies at 82; jazz drummer for Dave Brubeck Quartet |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-joe-morello-20110314-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017112128/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/14/local/la-me-joe-morello-20110314 |archive-date=2017-10-17 |access-date=2015-05-16 |website=Los Angeles Times}} Upon his death from lung cancer in 1977, Desmond left the performance royalties for his compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross,{{Cite book |last=Gioia |first=Ted |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFhpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA419 |title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire |date=2012-09-27 |isbn=9780199937400 |page=419 |publisher=Oxford University Press |quote=When Paul Desmond passed away in 1977, his will stipulated that royalties form this song and his other compositions go to the American Red Cross. Since then, the Red Cross has received more than $6 million from Desmond's bequest. |author-link=Ted Gioia}}{{Cite book |last=Lees |first=Gene |url=https://archive.org/details/catsofanycolorja00leesg |title=Cats of Any Color: Jazz Black and White |date=1995-12-21 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/catsofanycolorja00leesg/page/55 55] |author-link=Gene Lees |url-access=registration}} which has since received payments averaging well over $100,000 a year.{{Cite book |last=Doyle |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D3A9ipQcySkC&pg=PA90 |title=Spirited Men: Story, Soul & Substance |date=2004-01-25 |publisher=Cowley Publications |isbn=9781461733034 |location=Lanham, MD |page=90 |quote=The proceeds from his compositions and from his recordings were sent to the American Red Cross, which now earns more than $100,000 a year from his music. In the twenty-four years since his death, Paul Desmond has given the Red Cross more than three million dollars.}}{{Cite web |year=2005 |title=Paul Desmond – Celebrating a Legacy of Music and Compassion |url=http://www.redcross.org/email/Legacy/v5n3/PaulDesmond.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212043114/http://www.redcross.org/email/Legacy/v5n3/PaulDesmond.asp |archive-date=2012-12-12 |access-date=2016-11-12 |publisher=American Red Cross}}

Legacy

Take Five was positively received both in its release and current times and is the biggest-selling jazz single of all time.{{Cite news |last=Kniestedt |first=Kevin |date=28 November 2011 |title=The Mix: 100 Quintessential Jazz Songs |work=NPR |publisher=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/02/19/133479768/the-mix-the-jazz-100 |url-status=live |access-date=2016-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610110603/http://www.npr.org/2011/02/19/133479768/the-mix-the-jazz-100 |archive-date=2016-06-10}} In 2020, The New York Times called the standard "among the most iconic records in Jazz". The single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996.{{Cite web |last1=Barnes |first1=Erin Carlson,Mike |last2=Carlson |first2=Erin |last3=Barnes |first3=Mike |date=2012-12-05 |title=Legendary Jazz Musician Dave Brubeck Dies at 91 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jazz-musician-dave-brubeck-dies-398200/ |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}} It has received subsequently replay in movie and television soundtracks,{{Cite web |last=Alatorre |first=Michael |date=2016-03-19 |title=Same Song, Different Movie: Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet |url=https://le0pard13.com/2016/02/19/same-song-different-movie-take-five-by-the-dave-brubeck-quartet/#fn-35232-1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728131616/https://le0pard13.com/2016/02/19/same-song-different-movie-take-five-by-the-dave-brubeck-quartet/#fn-35232-1 |archive-date=2020-07-28 |access-date=2020-01-30 |website=le0pard13.com}} giving it continued radio airplay.

= Covers and adaptations{{anchor|covers}} =

"Take Five" is considered a jazz standard and has been covered many times in a variety of genres.{{Cite web |title=Watch an Incredible Performance of "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1964) |url=https://www.openculture.com/2019/12/watch-an-incredible-performance-of-take-five-by-the-dave-brubeck-quartet-1964.html |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=Open Culture |language=en-US}} The first known cover was by Carmen McRae on the 1961 live album Take Five Live, supported by Brubeck, Gene Wright and Morello.{{Cite book |last=Ted Gioia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPuMQx9GZVcC&pg=PA419 |title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-976915-5 |page=419}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2001 |title=Dave Brubeck Discography |url=https://www.jazzdisco.org/dave-brubeck/discography/#610906/dave-brubeck/discography/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719173900/https://www.jazzdisco.org/dave-brubeck/discography/#610906/dave-brubeck/discography/ |archive-date=2020-07-19 |access-date=2020-01-25 |website=jazzdisco.org |publisher=Free Software Foundation}} For the recording, McRae sang lyrics written by Brubeck's wife Iola; these lyrics would later be used for other vocal recordings.

Jamaican saxophonist Val Bennett covered the song in 1968 in a roots reggae style, in {{music|time|4|4}} time, and retitled "The Russians Are Coming".Thompson, Dave (2002) Reggae & Caribbean Music, Backbeat Books, {{ISBN|0-87930-655-6}}, p. 392 Bennett's version became the theme of British television series The Secret Life of Machines in the late 1980s. Al Jarreau recorded an acclaimed scat version of the song for NDR Television in Hamburg, West Germany on October 17, 1975.{{Cite web |last=Meeker |first=David |date=2019-04-29 |title=NDR Jazz Workshop 1975 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200026839/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201121731/https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200026839/ |archive-date=2020-02-01 |access-date=2020-02-01 |website=Loc.gov}} Moe Koffman recorded a cover for his 1996 album Devil’s Brew. In 2011, a version by Pakistan's Sachal Studios Orchestra won widespread acclaim and charted highly on American and British jazz charts.{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Declan |date=2011-08-05 |title=Jazz album by Pakistan music veterans storms western charts |work=The Guardian |location=Pakistan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/05/pakistan-musicians-top-western-charts-jazz |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308150534/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/05/pakistan-musicians-top-western-charts-jazz |archive-date=2017-03-08}} Canadian animator Steven Woloshen created the 2003 animated short film Cameras Take Five, which animated an improvised series of abstract lines and figures set to the song.Gregory Singer, [https://www.awn.com/animationworld/fresh-festivals-august-2003s-film-reviews "Fresh from the Festivals: August 2003’s Film Reviews"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217221838/https://www.awn.com/animationworld/fresh-festivals-august-2003s-film-reviews |date=2023-02-17 }}. Animation World Network, August 27, 2003.

Track listing

{{Track listing

| headline = Take Five / Blue Rondo à la Turk (1959)

| title1 = Take Five

| length1 = 2:50

| title2 = Blue Rondo à la Turk

| length2 = 2:59

}}

Personnel

File:Dave Brubeck Quartet 1962.jpg

Dave Brubeck – piano
Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
Gene Wright – upright bass{{Cite news |last=Beaumont-Thomas |first=Ben |date=2021-01-01 |title=Eugene Wright, bassist with classic Dave Brubeck Quartet, dies aged 97 |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/01/eugene-wright-bassist-classic-dave-brubeck-quartet-dies-aged-97 |access-date=2023-03-10 |issn=0261-3077}}
Joe Morello – drums

Notes

References

External links

{{YouTube|tT9Eh8wNMkw|Watch the Dave Brubeck Quartet perform "Take Five" to close their episode of the RTB Television series Jazz pour tous, taped on October 10, 1964 in Liège, Belgium}}
[https://genius.com/Carmen-mcrae-take-five-lyrics Licensed lyrics of this song] at Genius

Category:1959 songs

Category:1961 singles

Category:1950s jazz standards

Category:Cool jazz standards

Category:Jazz compositions in E-flat minor

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients

Category:Real Book Song