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Home , Dave Brubeck, Joe Morello, Paul Desmond, Take Five

Take Five

Dave Brubeck Quartet, from the album Time Out

KEY INFOINFORMATIONRMATION

The great musician, composer and bandleader was born in Concord, California in 1920. His father was a cattle rancher and his mother a classically trained pianist. His parents had hopes of him becoming a vet; however it was clear that he was only destined for one thing – , and he switched subjects at university.

Brubeck was famous for his daring experimental and creative use of odd time signatures, but he somehow always managed to keep his music accessible, which ensured its success and longevity. He loved learning from the music of other cultures, particularly after returning from a tour to many countries in Asia and Europe in 1958. These influences can be clearly heard on his album entitled Jazz Impressions of Eurasia .

Brubeck brought jazz to new audiences, particularly college students. In his later years he moved towards a more spiritual life, and composed a significant amount of choral sacred music which he felt could express parts of himself which the could not. However he maintained a successful career as a jazz pianist right up until his death at the age of 91 in 2012.

Released in 1959, Brubeck’s ground breaking album Time Out was unlike anything that preceded it, and was the first jazz album to sell a million copies! The hit turned out to be one of the highest selling jazz tunes of all time. Brubeck had hired the inventive drummer in 1956. Morello’s ability to accommodate Brubeck’s unusual time signatures brought a new approach to performance, and a move away from Brubeck’s ‘cool’ laid back style. Take Five was originally set as a piece of homework for , the Quartet’s wonderfully lyrical alto saxophonist. Brubeck had instructed him to compose a which would fit over Morello’s catchy drum groove in 5/4 – and he did. What makes Take Five stand out is the distinctive piano figure introduction at the beginning of the piece; it also features a light, bluesy melody from Desmond, and a well-known in the middle. More than 40 versions of this piece have been recorded by other artists.

LISTEN

First listening – with/without sharing the name of the piece or composer. Teacher/Musicat to choose whether to play whole piece or a specific section/s.

First impressions: • What comes to mind immediately? • What do you notice about the music eg tempo, dynamics, pitch; what about the ? • What about the instruments? Can you identify any of them? • Where are the improvised sections? Can you here the soloist? • How does the music change or develop? • What do you imagine when you are listening to it? • Does the music make you feel a particular way? (it doesn’t matter if not). • Do you have a favourite/least favourite part?

EXPLORE Intro - Drums begin, piano and bass enter with the vamp in unison Melody The melody is ABA, made up of two parts – a bluesy theme, and then the lighter middle section. It is dancey, light and catchy (partly because of Desmond’s graceful style), and quite repetitive. Look out for the short notes in the . Learn the melody – you may want to use Carmen McRae’s version with lyrics here – even just the main bluesy line (A section) • Bluesy harmony. Pretty simple piece. Starts minor (A section), moves to major (Bridge) then back to minor (A section) Hence ABA • Stays in one place for the solos, static. You can hear this very clearly in the . Almost like the piano takes on the role of the drummer. Locks down the rhythm. Solos Sax solo over the main figure, then a drum solo over the vamp which never changes What is happening in the sax and drum solos? What can you hear? What do you think the drummer is trying to say? Compare the saxophone solo to the drum solo? Pulse The pulse is very steady – the piano anchors the pulse in this piece. The clave (bel pattern) is very clear to hear. The pulse stays the same throughout. Learn the clave via simple clapping games. Clave means “key” in Spanish. So, in other words, the clave is the key to this music. Claves are also an instrument - two wooden sticks/blocks that are hit together to produce a rhythmic sound. • Clapping strong beats. Introduce simple exercises using numbers – e.g. counting as you clap, clapping on different beats, drop in/out etc. be creative. Introduce a phrase to help you stay in time. ‘ I love Dave Bru-beck’ for example. Can the pupils to come up with their own little phrase? • Learn the piano figure rhythm/melody and bassline rhythm/melody too by way of introducing a phrase – superimpose with phrases. Split into three groups; add piano bass and clave and put all together. • Check out Mission Impossible Theme - try to add the above parts over that!!! Learn the clave. Tempo/Feel • Medium swing Rhythm This piece is all about the rhythm – the most important feature is the in 5/4. (This needs a simple explanation with a practical example (using words or clapping), perhaps exploring 4/4 and ¾ first. They can then re-visit the practical example in ‘DO’.) • The rhythm of the melody is fairly straightforward • of the clave/bassline/piano figure are more sophisticated. • The drum solo has lots of development rhythmically. The rhythm of his accents gives a sense of a conversation which sits well over the unwavering piano figure. • ‘Rhythm is an international language; it’s the heartbeat that binds us all together.’ (Brubeck) Pitch • Bassline is very simple (low-high-low-high etc.…) • The shape of the melody is also important. The A section (minor) it is in the middle register, and on moving to the major Bridge section it gets higher. • Also on a subtler level you can hear the pitch of the different drums. Interesting feature How does the pitch of the melody change? Can you demonstrate using either movement/voice to show what is happening here? Who can hear any changes in the pitches of the drums? Dynamics • Dynamically there isn’t a huge amount of variation – the way in which tension builds is via the creative use of space/pitch in the solos and the way in which it is filled. Outro – round and around the last section, a slightly messy ending for some ears!

DODODO • Compose a piece inspired by Take Five . It could use 5 elements, be in 5/4, have 5 pitches, use the clave from the piece above. • Imagine you are a journalist for eg Time Magazine. Write a review of Take Five and give your reasons • Art work – abstract painting – inspired by the piece. Imagine you are composing the album cover for Time Out. Have a look at Neil Fujita’s cover (see the photo at the top of page 1).

DID YOU KNOW?? • Time Out was an experiment! Brubeck’s Quartet didn’t expect it to be as successful as it was. • Although best known for jazz, Brubeck also composed a lot of , including ballet. • On 8 November 1954 Dave Brubeck became only the second jazz musician (after ) to make the cover of Time magazine (see page 1 – Jazzman Dave Brubeck) • He studied music at university, but was nearly thrown out when the professors realised that he couldn’t read music! He did learn to read music later. • His piano playing may have saved his life in World War Two. Although he was in the army, he didn’t fight in America’s most deadly battle because he was playing in a show for the Red Cross! • Brubeck was very good friends with (also on our playlist) • He wrote a musical called , with Louis Armstrong (also on our playlist) as the lead character • He injured his spine surfing in , which altered the way he played the piano. • Barak Obama is a massive fan. Recalling a 1971 concert Brubeck had given in he said ‘You can't understand America without understanding jazz, and you can't understand jazz without understanding Dave Brubeck.’ • th is known as Dave Brubeck Day because of Take Five (5/40, as well as Star Wars Day ‘May the force (fourth) be with you’ • Main Belt Asteroid 5079 Brubeck is named after him. • The cover of the album is by Neil Fujita, a Hawaiian-born graphic designer best known for his innovative album and book covers