"
Take Five" is a jazz piece written by
Paul DesmondPaul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
and performed by
The Dave Brubeck QuartetThe Dave Brubeck Quartet is a jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano...
on their 1959 album
Time OutTime Out is a 1959 album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz ....
. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studios in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, the piece became one of the group's best-known record and became famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody and use of the unusual quintuple (5/4) time, from which its name is derived. While "Take Five" was not the first jazz composition to use this
meterMeter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry, where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
, it was one of the first in the United States to achieve mainstream significance, reaching number five on
Billboard's
Adult Contemporary SinglesThe Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart.
"Take Five" was re-recorded and performed live multiple times by The Dave Brubeck Quartet throughout the group's career.
"
Take Five" is a jazz piece written by
Paul DesmondPaul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
and performed by
The Dave Brubeck QuartetThe Dave Brubeck Quartet is a jazz quartet, founded in 1951 by Dave Brubeck and originally featuring Paul Desmond on saxophone and Brubeck on piano...
on their 1959 album
Time OutTime Out is a 1959 album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz ....
. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studios in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, the piece became one of the group's best-known record and became famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody and use of the unusual quintuple (5/4) time, from which its name is derived. While "Take Five" was not the first jazz composition to use this
meterMeter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry, where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
, it was one of the first in the United States to achieve mainstream significance, reaching number five on
Billboard's
Adult Contemporary SinglesThe Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart.
"Take Five" was re-recorded and performed live multiple times by The Dave Brubeck Quartet throughout the group's career. In addition, there have been various covers of the piece, including one by Swedish singer
Monica ZetterlundMonica Zetterlund, born Monica Nilsson , was a Swedish singer and actress.-Biography:Born in the small town of Hagfors in Värmland, Sweden, Monica Zetterlund was, above all, an outstanding singer, particularly noted for her work in jazz...
in 1962 and a
dubDub is an instrumental subgenre of reggae music, that involves revisions of existing songs. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing...
version by
King TubbyKing Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub music in the 1960s and 1970s...
, released posthumously in 2002. Some versions also feature lyrics, including a 1961 recording with lyrics written by
Dave BrubeckDavid Warren Brubeck , known as Dave Brubeck, is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational...
and his wife Iola, sung by
Carmen McRaeCarmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
. "Take Five" has also been included in countless movies and television soundtracks, and still receives significant radio play.
Upon his death in 1977, Desmond left the rights to royalties for performances and compositions, including "Take Five", to the
American Red CrossThe American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States, and is the designated U.S...
, which has since received combined royalties of approximately $100,000 per year.