The Dave Brubeck Quartet • Time Out
Classic Records/Columbia CS 8192
33-RPM 200 g LP
Is anyone even relatively new to music unfamiliar with the classic jazz track, Take Five, which was taken from the album Time Out, recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959? Many people, even non-fans of the genre (and I count myself amongst them, although my appreciation for jazz is slowly growing as I become more exposed to it—a perk of the job, I suppose!), know at least the famous opening bars on piano and alto sax.
Time Out was the result of Brubeck’s experimentation with exotic time signatures, the most famous track being in 5/4. Some other time signatures found on the album are 9/8 and 6/4.
Apart from a little tape hiss, the sound quality of this album is very good. The bass is deep and tuneful, and the treble is nice and clear. For example, cymbals have the right amount of ring and shimmer to them. The acoustic space is well-captured too: Joe Morello’s drum kit is stage left, but one can easily hear its sound being reflected off the right back wall.
While not up to the very high standard set by their Clarity series of records, this release from Classic Records is an improvement over some of their previous efforts: bothersome surface noise like tics and pops are diminished and the vinyl is very flat. There was apparently supposed to be a four disc 45-RPM Clarity release of this record (a copy of which I would love to have), but to date it has yet to appear.
Time Out is, in my opinion, one of those records that ought to be in any jazz lovers collection, and in the absence of a Clarity vinyl pressing, this is most probably the version to get (I haven’t heard an original pressing).