''Time Out'' is a studio album by the American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

group the

Dave Brubeck Quartet David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrast ...

, released in 1959 on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s that were unusual for jazz such as , and . The album is a subtle blend of cool and West Coast jazz. The album peaked at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' pop albums chart, and was the first jazz album to sell a million copies. The single "

Take Five "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. ...

" off the album was also the first jazz single to sell one million copies. By 1963, the record had sold 500,000 units, and in 2011 it was certified double platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, signifying over two million records sold. The album was inducted in the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2009. The album was selected, in 2005, for preservation in the United States

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Background

The album was intended as an experiment using musical styles Brubeck discovered abroad while on a

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

Music

Although the theme of ''Time Out'' is non-common-time signatures, things are not quite so simple. "

Blue Rondo à la Turk Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term ''blue'' generally d ...

" starts in , with a typically Balkan subdivision into short and long beats (the rhythm of the Turkish '' zeybek'', equivalent of the Greek ''

zeibekiko Zeibekiko (, ) is a Greek dances, Greek folk dance, similar to Turkish Zeybek (dance), Zeybek dance. Origin and history It takes its name from the Zeybeks, an irregular militia living in the Aegean Region of the Ottoman Empire from late 17th ...

'') as opposed to the more typical way of subdividing as , but the saxophone and piano solos are in . The title is a play on

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's "Rondo alla Turca" from his Piano Sonata No. 11, and reflects the fact that the band heard the rhythm while traveling in Turkey. "Strange Meadow Lark" begins with a piano solo that exhibits no clear time signature, but then settles into a fairly ordinary swing once the rest of the group joins. "Take Five" is in throughout. According to Desmond, "It was never supposed to be a hit. It was supposed to be a

Joe Morello Joseph Albert Morello (July 17, 1928 – March 12, 2011) was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "clas ...

drum solo." "Three to Get Ready" begins in waltz-time, after which it begins to alternate between two measures of and two of . "Kathy's Waltz", named after Brubeck's daughter Cathy but misspelled, starts in , and only later switches to double-waltz time before merging the two. "Everybody's Jumpin'" is mainly in a very flexible , while "Pick Up Sticks" firms that up into a clear and steady . In an article for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Spencer Leigh speculated that "Kathy's Waltz" later inspired

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

song "

All My Loving "All My Loving" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their second UK album ''With the Beatles'' (1963). It was written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and produced by George Martin. Though not officially rele ...

" (written by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, credited to Lennon/McCartney). The two songs share similar rhythmic endings to the last phrases of their melodies.

Legacy

The Dave Brubeck Quartet followed up ''Time Out'' with three more similarly named albums that also made use of uncommon time signatures: '' Time Further Out'' (1961), '' Countdown—Time in Outer Space'' (1962) and '' Time Changes'' (1964). Another album, '' Time In'' (1966), which featured the quartet but was credited only to Brubeck, echoed the title of ''Time Out'', although it made use of more conventional time signatures. In 2005, ''Time Out'' was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the

to be added to the

. It was also listed that year in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music criti ...

''. In 2009 the album was inducted into the

Reissues

In 1997, the album was remastered for compact disc by

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2 ...

. In 2009, Legacy Recordings released a special three-disc 50th Anniversary Edition of ''Time Out''. This edition offers a much higher dynamic range than the 1997 remaster. In addition to the complete album, the Legacy Edition includes a bonus disc featuring previously unreleased concert recordings of the same Brubeck Quartet from the 1961, 1963, and 1964 gatherings of

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

. The Legacy Edition's third disc is a DVD featuring a 30-minute interview with Brubeck in 2003, and an interactive "piano lesson" where the viewer can toggle through four different camera angles of Brubeck performing a solo version of "Three to Get Ready". In 2020, the album ''Time OutTakes'' was released, which was overseen by Brubeck's children and released on their own record label, Brubeck Editions. The album features alternate takes of "Blue Rondo a la Turk", "Strange Meadowlark", "Take Five", "Three To Get Ready" and "Kathy's Waltz" (now billed as "Cathy's Waltz"), as well as two songs from the same sessions that had not been included on the album: a cover of "I'm In a Dancing Mood" (which Brubeck had previously covered, live and on the album '' Dave Brubeck and Jay & Kai at Newport'') and "Watusi Jam" (a take on Brubeck's composition "Watusi Drums"). The release was chosen as a Critics Pick by The New York Times.

Track listing

Personnel

The Dave Brubeck Quartet *

– piano *

–

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

Eugene Wright Eugene Joseph Wright (May 29, 1923 – December 30, 2020) was an American jazz bassist who was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Career Wright was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was a cornetist at high school and led the 16-piece band D ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

– drums Production *

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz record producer, saxophonist, and composer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'' and Dave B ...

– producer * Pat Maher - engineer *

Fred Plaut Frederick Plaut (1907–1985) was a recording engineer and amateur photographer. He was employed by Columbia Records in the US during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, eventually becoming the label's chief engineer. Plaut engineered sessions for what wou ...

– engineer *

S. Neil Fujita Sadamitsu Neil Fujita (, May 16, 1921 – October 23, 2010) was an American graphic designer known for his innovative book cover and record album designs. Early life Born in Waimea, Hawaii, to Japanese immigrants, Fujita attended a board ...

– cover artwork * Seth Rothstein – project director * Russell Gloyd – reissue producer * Mark Wilder – reissue remastering * Cozbi Sanchez-Cabrera – reissue art direction

Charts

Album ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' (United States) ''Time Out'' peaked at No. 2 the week of November 27, 1961 on the ''Billboard'' Monaural LPs chart, behind only ''

Judy at Carnegie Hall ''Judy at Carnegie Hall'' is the second live album by the American actress and singer Judy Garland. It was released on July 10, 1961, by Capitol Records. The album is a live recording of a concert by Garland held at Carnegie Hall in New York Cit ...

'' by

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

. Singles ''Billboard'' (United States) Sales and certifications ''Time Out'' was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies. The album was certified platinum in 1997 and double platinum in 2011. The single, "Take Five", also sold over a million.

References

External links

The Dave Brubeck Quartet: ''Time Out''
– by A. B. Spellman and Murray Horwitz; part of NPR's Basic Jazz Record Library
Time Out: How Dave Brubeck Changed Jazz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Time Out (Album) 1959 albums Albums produced by Teo Macero Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio Columbia Records albums 1950s concept albums Cool jazz albums Dave Brubeck albums United States National Recording Registry recordings Album covers by S. Neil Fujita United States National Recording Registry albums