Although released as a promotional single on September 21, 1959, "Take Five" fulfilled its chart potential only when reissued for radio play and jukebox use in May 1961, that year reaching No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and No. 6 on the UKRecord Retailer chart. The single is a different recording than the LP version and omits most of the drum solo. It became the first jazz single to surpass a million in sales, reaching two million by the time Dave Brubeck disbanded his quartet in 1967. Columbia Records also enlisted "Take Five" in their doomed launch of the -rpm stereo single in the marketplace. Together with a unique stereo edit of "Blue Rondo à la Turk", the full album version was pressed in small numbers for a promotional six-pack of singles sent to DJs in late 1959.
Performances
The Dave Brubeck Quartet first played "Take Five" to a live audienceat the Village Gate nightclub in New York City in July 1959. Over the next 50 years the group re-recorded it many times, and typically used it to close concerts: each member, upon completing his solo, would leave the stage as in Haydn's Farewell Symphony until only the drummer remained. Some of the many cover versions include lyrics by Brubeck's wife Iola, penned for a September 6, 1961 live recording sung by Carmen McRae backed by the Dave Brubeck Trio. Al Jarreau recorded an acclaimed scat version of the song for NDR television in Hamburg, West Germany on October 17, 1975. Desmond, upon his death in 1977, left the performance royalties for his compositions, including "Take Five", to the American Red Cross, which has since received royalties averaging well over $100,000 a year combined.
Musical style
"Take Five" is known for its distinctive two-chord piano/bass vamp; catchy blues-scale saxophone melodies; inventive, jolting drum solo; and unorthodox quintuple time, from which Dave Brubeck derived its name. Helped by native symphony musicians, the classically-trained Brubeck had recently enhanced his knowledge of more complex forms of music during the Quartet's U.S. State Department-sponsored tour of Eurasia in the spring of 1958. The odyssey inspired him to create an album that diverged from the usual time of jazz by adapting the exotic meters he had encountered abroad.
Structure
"Take Five" is written in the key of E minor and in time, with the five beats to the bar split unevenly into 3 + 2 quarter notes. The album version has ten sections.
Section
Description
Intro
Drum, piano and double bass set up pattern with two-chord (Em–Bm7
The piece has been a staple of jazz and pop music since it was first released. More than 40 cover versions have been recorded, as early as Carmen McRae's cover in 1961 on an album titled Take Five Live. Recordings have been released by artists known for playing jazz, country, bluegrass and pop, as well as from artists in many different countries. In 1972, singer Don Partridge wrote lyrics to "Take Five" sung to the saxophone melody, and regularly performed the song in live stage performances and when street-busking throughout Europe. In 1995, Moe Koffman recorded a version for his album Devil's Brew. This was the first version recorded by a Canadian artist. In 1996, The Specials recorded a version for their cover albumToday's Specials. In 2011, a version by Pakistan's Sachal Studios Orchestra won widespread acclaim and charted highly on American and British jazz charts.
