Take Five
| "Take Five" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Dave Brubeck Quartet | ||||
| from the album Time Out | ||||
| B-side | "Blue Rondo à la Turk" | |||
| Released | September 21, 1959; May 22, 1961 (reissue) | |||
| Recorded | July 1, 1959 | |||
| Studio | CBS 30th Street, New York City | |||
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| Label | Columbia 4-41479 | |||
| Composer | Paul Desmond | |||
| Producer | Teo Macero | |||
| Dave Brubeck Quartet singles chronology | ||||
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"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond and originally recorded in 1959 by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for their album Time Out. Written in quintuple time (5
4), the composition is built around a distinctive blues-scale melody in E♭ minor and a recurring two-chord vamp. It became the third track on Time Out, which was released by Columbia Records later that year.
The track emerged after Quartet drummer Joe Morello challenged Desmond to compose a piece in 5
4. Brubeck arranged Desmond’s melodies around Morello’s rhythmic ideas, creating a work in ABA ternary form. Its title refers both to the quintuple meter and the colloquial expression "take five," meaning to take a short break.
Released as a promotional single in September 1959, "Take Five" initially charted modestly but became a sleeper hit in 1961, eventually rising to international popularity. It went on to become the biggest-selling jazz single of all time and remains a staple of radio programming and live performance.
Frequently covered by artists across genres, "Take Five" has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz standards ever recorded.