Take Five

While this classic jazz number is strongly associated with the Dave Brubeck quartet, it was actually written by two members of Brubeck’s group: Paul Desmond (1924-1977), the saxophonist, who came up with the melody, and Joe Morello, the drummer, who came up with the backing rhythm (drum groove). Interestingly, Take Five was part of a recording project, inspired by a trip to India and the Middle East, dedicated to pieces in unconventional time signatures. The record that resulted, called “Time Out” was the first-ever jazz record to sell more than one million copies. That was obviously a bit of very fertile cross-cultural pollination!

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And here below is an audio play-along accompaniment which is a little slow perhaps: