The album was intended as an experiment using musical styles Brubeck discovered abroad while on a United States Department of State sponsored tour of Eurasia, such as when he observed in Turkey a group of street musicians performing a traditional Turkish folk song that was played in time with subdivisions of, a rare meter for Western music. On the condition that Brubeck's group first record a conventional album of traditional songs of the American South, Gone with the Wind, Columbia president Goddard Lieberson took a chance to underwrite and release Time Out. It received negative reviews by critics upon its release. It produced a Top 40hit single in "Take Five", composed by Paul Desmond, and the one track not written by Dave Brubeck. Although the theme of Time Out is non-common-time signatures, things are not quite so simple. "Blue Rondo à la Turk" starts in, with a typically Balkan subdivision into short and long beats 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'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 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, Spencer Leigh speculated that "Kathy's Waltz" inspired the song "All My Loving", written by Paul McCartney and performed by The Beatles, as they share similar rhythmic endings to the last phrases of their melodies.
Legacy
In 1997, the album was remastered for compact disc by Legacy Recordings. In 2005, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. It was also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2009 the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 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 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".
Track listing
All pieces composed by Dave Brubeck, except "Take Five" by Paul Desmond. Side one
Time Out peaked at No. 2 the week of November 27, 1961 on the Billboard Monaural LPs chart, behind only Judy at Carnegie Hall by Judy Garland. Singles Billboard
Year
Single
Chart
Position
1961
"Take Five"
Adult Contemporary
5
1961
"Take Five"
Pop Singles
25
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 more than a million.
