Time Out (album)

Time Out
Artwork for the 1997 CD, painting by S. Neil Fujita
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 14, 1959 (1959-12-14)
RecordedJune 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959
StudioColumbia 30th Street Studio, New York City
Genre
Length38:30
LabelColumbia
ProducerTeo Macero
Dave Brubeck chronology
The Riddle
(1959)
Time Out
(1959)
Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein
(1961)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
DownBeat
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)B+
Q
Tom HullA
Uncut

Time Out is a studio album by the American jazz group the Dave Brubeck Quartet, released in 1959 by Columbia Records. Recorded at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York City, the album is noted for its pioneering use of unconventional time signatures for jazz, including 9
8
, 6
4
, and 5
4
. Musically, it represents a subtle fusion of cool and West Coast influences.

Time Out peaked at number two on the Billboard albums chart and became the first jazz album to sell one million copies. Its standout single, "Take Five", was also the first jazz single to sell over one million copies. By 1963, the album had sold more than 500,000 units, and in 2011 it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), recognizing sales of over two million copies.

The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009, and in 2005 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".