Time Out

It was nice. I’m sure if I understood music theory it would be really interesting. But I’m stupid.

Do ya like jazz? Do ya like other people knowing you like jazz? Then play Time Out at your nearest social gathering and tell everyone that you enjoy odd time signatures and polyrhythms while you tap your feet to one of the most played jazz tunes ever. You're not normal, you're weird in all the right ways! Lol all joking aside, I fucking love this album, and why shouldn't I? Just like with the Beatles, the reason so many people like the music is because it is genuinely incredible, and Dave Brubeck does it here too. One gripe though - whenever I play this album, I always get a twinge of "maybe I should be playing some jazz by a black artist instead" simply because I've found myself listening to a lot of jazz by white guys. But that doesn't detract from the songs. Unsquare Dance is my favorite here.

Smoked a joint and listened to this on vinyl and reading the jacket notes. Got lost in the music. Take 5 is a masterpiece. Put on Miles in a Silent Way after, I don't listen to my jazz collection enough, but I digress. Time Out is a 5.

Before I give my thoughts I want to honor the fact that jazz music was traditionally a black musical style that some white people liked and became famous with in places that many black musicians were not allowed to go. That being said- I really like this Jazz album- I was very productive listening to it because jazz piano is my favorite.

This is (probably) the ultimate Cool Jazz record. Something you put on and sip a martini and cook a steak to. You can really hear the West Coast laid back playing on this as opposed to the busy New York playing that was coming out of Blue Note (although this was recorded in NYC). It produced 3 jazz standards just on the first side for goodness sake. Favorite song: Take Five and Blue Rondo à la Turk Least favorite song: don’t really have one

First song was good, then I forgot it was playing. Not too bad 5/4 this, 9/8 that, how about 3/5

One of the first jazz albums to come into my possession. This could be seen as 'baby's first jazz' in some respects, as it's a light, clean listen with enough toe-tappers for popular appeal. However, even repeated exposure to 'Take Five' hasn't dimmed its lustre. There's a high degree of sophistication at play here - Brubeck was influenced by the rhythms of Balkan and Bulgarian folk music, so 'Take Five', 'Blue Rondo...' step outside of 4/4 time and take the cool paradigm into slippery places. Five stars all the way, I spin this one frequently.

I had no idea what to expect but definitely found myself loving it. During the opening to the first track I had a hard time believing it's a 50's jazz track as it sounded much more like the opening to a 80's prog rock or progressive metal track. The rest of the album sounded more like I imagined highly technical cool jazz to sound like. But unlike other examples of this style I never felt bored with it. Just really good music to have playing which is both excellent in the background and for the occasional more intense listening during the particularly playful segments. Will save this one to re-listen for sure.

I don’t have anything smart to say, for whatever reason I had never really listening to Dave Brubeck before this and I definitely need to spend more time checking his music out cuz this was great.

Doesn’t offend

all instrumentals. I don't mind instrumentals (read: lofi, read: chopin) but these ones were boring af.

Even this perpetual jazz neophyte can hear how peerless this is. The one instantly recognizable piece took on greate depth and nuance for me in its proper context here.

There’s something about this record I just don’t like, not sure what it is. It’s fine, but ultimately just kind of…eh. Like, it makes sense that it’s kind of a gateway record for people to get into jazz- it’s not particularly challenging and it’s easy on the ears, but after two listens it’s kind of driving me nuts.

One of my all time favourite albums and maybe the only jazz album I really like. The groove of about every track totally gets me. Dave Brubecks simple piano style is great and Joe Morello is phantastic on the drums (e.g. on take five, which they basically created primarily for the drum solo, and I find it ironic when radios cut the song before the solo).

My family used to listen to this CD in the car all the times and Take Five is one of my dad's favorite songs, so this album has heavy nostalgic power for me! The music is so masterful and wonderful <<chef's kiss>>

A classic of cool jazz, and jazz as a greater whole. Dave Brubeck is so precise on the keys that he sounds like a MIDI file, and the rest of the team backs him up superbly, particularly Desmond and Morello on the highlight Take Five.

Another watershed jazz album. Brubeck's playing is complex and experiments with time signatures of various more 'exotic' influences. This coupled with Paul Desmond's acrobatic saxophone playing make this album groundbreaking and approachable.

I feel like a broken record (heh) on these, but I have loved all the instrumental albums not by Miles Davis. I've heard a lot of these before but never as an album. Great stuff.

Good background music for when wacky shenanigans are afoot. Make sure to keep looking above yourself while listening to this album, because a comically oversized anvil could drop down on your head at any moment. This album has a similar feel to it as cheese. I don't mean to call it "cheesy", I mean that it literally reminds of cheese. Like, I can smell some fresh tasty gorgonzola while listening to this. Call that Synescheesia. Four outta seven!

Inoffensive, too easy listening. Willing to give it a second chance and not an album I think I'd ever buy. Missing the bite of the jazz I love: Coltrane, Coleman, and Davis.

It wasn't amazing, but it was easy to listen to, quite pleasant and interesting to hear hints of what would come in the following decades. There were definitely some parts that sounded like the beginnings of Progressive Rock for example, particularly King Crimson. Another one that was hard to rate. It felt like a pretty strong 3, not quite enough for a 4.

Such a great album. Everything about this reeks of hep cat coolness...but in a good way! And Joe Morello's ride cymbal on "Take Five" is unparalleled. It doesn't quite make it to four stars for me because I'm not a jazz guy. 3 1/2 would be more like it.

I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Jazz, and this leans more towards the latter side. Everybody knows Take Five; it's nice, but a bit boring for my taste. The album as a whole is much too cerebral. It's Jazz by the (odd) numbers, but it doesn't speak to me. 2/5

A great sounding record for it being released in 1959.

Take my five stars!

I know every discordant piano chord, every lick of Paul Desmond's clarinet and honed my chops as a drummer learning 5/4 and 7/8 from the master, Joe Morello. My indie/new wave band introduced me to its genius at the age of 16 and I've loved it ever since. Jazz with a wink and a smile on its face. Pure enjoyment. Go on songwriters, throw a change of time signature in every now and then and make the music interesting.

You know an album is a masterpiece when it's incredibly technical and sophisticated, but is still accessible and enjoyable. A blend of African, Eastern, traditional/folk, and Jazz that comes together just perfectly.

Very much a gateway album for me. It's instantly accessible, even with the strange time signatures used throughout, it just sounds cool. There's not been many hit songs in 5/4, but Time Out is more than just Take 5, I probably prefer Blue Rondo à La Turk, but there's not a dud on the album. If you're not sure about Jazz, give this a listen and then go Hard Bop and Free Jazz, just like me! 5 / 5 stars.

08/27/2022 This album is very special to me for a number of reasons. Take Five was the first jazz recording that I ever heard back in third grade when my elementary school did a program called music memory. We were played sound bytes of different famous recordings and this was one of them. I have loved this recording since 2007-2008. Nearly 15 years of love. Fast forward to the future, I fell in love with the entire album after working at my university’s radio station that played jazz in the afternoons. I was the DJ for the 3-5 hour on Mondays or Wednesdays. Became familiar w many more songs and the style of Dave brubeck’s players because of this. — Today was super chill, I finally got to run some errands. Ran to target, had a great time getting lunch stuff and other little fun items. Came back and made myself a nice lil dinner and then just watched Netflix and crocheted.

Shimmers in its understated brilliance, popular this may have been but this in no way detracts from its status as high art. The recording is exquisite, the sophistication in the playing extraordinary. An album to repeat and find new things or to just enjoy and absorb, Time Out is special.

Relaxing, classic jazz. Steady percussion, smooth brass, instrumental jazz.

I'm not a jazz aficionado by any stretch, but I know what I like. I like this album and now know it belongs to the cool jazz genre. Cool.

Automatic fiver here. Love Dave Brubeck, and this has some of his most signature classics. Opening with "Blue Rondo a la Turk" is enough to let you know you're in for a great ride. I think Brubeck's the pianist, but man, shoutout to whoever is on sax because the sax cuts through these tracks like a hot knife through butter. For me, this is quintessential smooth jazz. I'll always be reminded of that Malcolm in the Middle episode where Hal finds the old bomb shelter in the backyard and hides down there drinking scotch, talking to a portrait of JFK, and listening to "Take Five." Love, love, love it. Favorite tracks: Take Five, Blue Rondo a la Turk, Strange Meadow Lark, Pick Up Sticks, basically all of it. Album art: One of the many jazz albums with the sort of "framed abstract art" concept for the cover, and I really like it. The art is excellent, the text font and colors are bold. It's simple and informative, but very memorable. 5/5

Very cool. I don’t hate jazz, I hate shrill & stressful trumpets, but the sax on this is smooth and mellow and lovely. It’s both accessible and challenging with the recognisable hooks but crazy time signatures. Good stuff.

Four profoundly talented, creative, and meticulous musicians, each making it sound effortless. I appreciate that this album is extremely accessible, but that it's does that without compromising richness and complexity. You could listen to each track 10 times in a row and still discover new fills and trills with every playthrough.

An album that is so much more than just "Take Five". I've heard this album quite a few times. I'd say it's a great album for those that want to explore jazz a little more. Great listening and not too abstract enough to put off non-jazzers.

Wonderfully weird time signatures on some really great tunes. Very listenable.

Made somewhat cliche by time and popularity but a great record, with far more complexity and nuance than maybe it gets credit for

I'm not an active jazz fan as much as I like using it as background music for a vibe. However, with two recognizable songs "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and "Take Five", interesting time signatures, and an accessible cool jazz sound, this album stands out among the nameless shuffled playlists. I was shocked to see it was from the 50s, I guess jazz doesn't show its age as much as pop/rock. Also enjoyed the fun fact of the melody of "Kathy's Waltz" inspiring the Beatles' "All My Loving"

Nice background music (especially if played live) for a dinner in a candle-lit, velvet-lined, red wine & martini-serving restaurant.

That was one long elevator ride…

Just empty to me.

Miiight be the greatest jazz album ever. I cannot rave about it enough so I will just keep this short. Perfect album.

Jazz at it's very best. Totally accessible and requires cocktails and cigarettes.

Cool jass man

Need a montage in a TV show or movie? "Take Five," bitches. This old boomer loves this old boomer jazz album. The first three songs are so damn great and at 38 minutes, this is very listenable again and again. Top tracks: "Take Five," "Blue Rondo à la Turk," "Everybody's Jumpin'," "Strange Meadow Lark"

Goated.

The perfect modern old school

5 star for multiple reasons, but most of it boils down to the fact that I really enjoyed listening through it. Jazz is always one of my go-tos for when I want to listen to something, but I hadn't got to this yet, but it was so cool seeing all the influences from some of my favourite artists. Really fun listen overall, and I'd recommend anyone looking into jazz. I also saw lots of influence in pop music in general, and thought I recognised some songs from samples. FAVOURITE TRACKS: Blue Rondo à La Turk, Take Five, Everybody's Jumpin'

Great Instrumental album

I rate this 5/4.

total slay, of course.

Fantastic! Amazing! Influential! Innovative! Creative! Masterful! This is something that I’ve listened to in the past but revisiting was impactful. I cannot say enough good things about this album.

I'm a simple person. I hear jazz polyrhythms, I give five stars. Music theory never clicked for me when I was learning the piano. Albums like this make me wish it had.

I'm not a regular jazz listener, but of course I've heard most of these. Classic album for sure!

loved this album

Love this. An album I come back to regularly

Already know this is 10/10 no notes. I got this CD as a bar mitzvah gift and it was my first jazz, along with weather report. What a great album.

Amazing !!

Ah du jazz! Doux souvenir des lundis soir “trio jazz” lors de mon passage sur les planches du Rouge Gorge! Album réconfortant qui donne le goût d’ouvrir un bouteille de vin qui “goûte” chers! J’ai trouvé l’album à écouter lorsque c’est socialement inacceptable d’écouter A Charlie Brown Christmas! 🥳

Dave Brubeck est quand même dans mes préférés en ce qui concerne le jazz white West Coast qui n'est pas mon focus d'écoute.

Masterpiece

Excellent jazz album. Love Brubeck

5/4 stars

Easy listening. This album is repayable over and over again.

Damn good jazz.

Jazz muy fino, muy delicado y agradable de escuchar. Nunca se me hubiera ocurrido una portada mejor para este disco.

Excellent. An easy 5 star rating.

I think my IQ level just went up.

I've loved this album for years. If I could score this higher than a 5 I would. It's amazing. So many of the jazz albums we've had on this just feel like random nonsense that start, play for 8 minutes then end. This one is amazing. Each track has a motif, the musicians play around with parts the others have played and it means everything flows like actual songs. It's cohesive, but the musicianship is still amazing. Each performer can capture you at any moment. Then there are the time signatures. Having such interesting time signatures but having them in songs in a way that you don't really notice until someone points it out is always brilliant. The timings haven't just been shoe-horned in, they all work. Fantastic.

Fun, fresh, accessible

Loved the first track. It follows an Aksak rhythm, which is something that was big in the Ottoman Empire. Hearing the sequence in a jazz track was cool.

The greatest

Playful and energetic

Jazz at its finest

Feels like jazz that even total noobs can appreciate. I loved it and will loop this album as study music.

5/4 should be Dave Brubeck Day as well as Star Wars day. This album is why.

***** What a Discovery! Did Not know this classic Album. Totally like it.

Still has an edge like you sitting right there with them. But it’s major chords and subtlety all around. Nothing in your face but it’s got an edge. Should be shot into space for other realms to get and enjoy.

I bought the vinyl for this record, and this turned me on to a whole new genre. Wonderful!

One of the best cool jazz albums of this era. Its a great album, each track is gold.

hell yeah

Great album! Very fun jazz, lots of color and movement without being chaotic or overwhelming. A little short, running only 36 minutes.

Classic

Love this album, one of the first jazz albums I heard as a teen and Take Five made me realize I could be into it. Great throughout and absolutely worthy of being on this list.

I listened to it several more times and now convinced it’s a masterpiece.

This was one of the first jazz records that really hooked me, alongside Kind of Blue. I still return to it from time to time and each time I still get so much pleasure from it. Dave Brubeck is just so effortlessly cool. And yet despite the broad appeal of the album, it is also has a lot of range and complexity.

To be clear, this is a jazz 5. I have a whole separate scale for jazz.

As a free jazz aficionado, this is basic—lightyears from Ayler, Coltrane, Sanders, and Coleman. But damn, finally, a real classic. Take Five is in my headphone test rotation—if it doesn’t slap, the cans go back. Top 10 basic jazz you need to listen to. Cooler than anything you’ll ever make.

Just crazy good piano jazz!

'Take Five' is such an iconic track. The rest of the album was an enjoyable listen as well. Fun!

Rating (1-5): ✩✩✩✩✩ (Maybe in the lower tier of 5) Higlighted songs: Take Five I really liked it >w< It really fits my taste

Masterful. If you enjoy jazz, this is easily one of the greatest albums of all time.

5/4

Perfect album for a rainy day alone in the office.

yeah okay polyrhythms! big fan of this one. “take five” is a HUGE jazz staple and i love it so much. was super excited to hear it. the walking bass is a star. 5/5.

thank you department of state for creating jazz

Blue Rondo, Take Five, Kathy’s Waltz

Time Out is wonderful and masterful showing in jazz. I absolutely love this album and can't find anthing bad to say. It was calming, relaxing, peaceful, but yet something that you can really dive into and digest. 9.8/10 93/1001

absolutely mindblowingly amazing! now this is my kind of jazz. and i am extremely picky with the kind of jazz i like, as i normally don’t enjoy it much. but add in prog rock elements like in the first song and i am hooked. literally my first thought was “PROG JAZZ!?” and yeah “take five” is iconic. i forgot what it sounded like so when it came on i instantly went ”IT’S THIS SONG!” 😮 i will admit it mostly went back to, i don’t want to say boring jazz, but more traditional sounding jazz. i much more preferred the sounds of the “prog” section in the first track. the last song “pick up sticks” was very nice and didn’t feel “boring”. a well deserved 5/5 album.