"Take Five" & derivations
“Take Five”: recorded by the Dave Brubeck quartet in 1959 (and composed by that group’s saxophonist, Paul Desmond), it’s today known both as the largest-selling jazz single of all time, and for its near-ubiquity in TV commercials for luxury sedans. More importantly, it’s in 5/4 time, which, though that means little to me, is easy enough to spot. Simply look for musicians hunkered awkwardly over their instruments, grimacing and gritting their teeth. That’s 5/4 time.
And, without further ado, “Take Five” is my inaugural theme for Office Naps.
1. Billy Patt Quintett, Passion (An Act of Love) (Sabra)
Never mind that it’s actually a quartet heard here. Patt and Co., who iced down heads all over town with this smooth 5/4 cocktail, couldn’t be bothered with technical minutiae like that. Notice also that, if you listen carefully enough, you can hear their matching double-breasted charcoal gray wool jackets, which leads one to speculate that the un-credited member was actually their tailor. Otherwise, no word on who Billy Patt was, or what his brand of Scotch might have been.
Sabra was Lelan Rogers' (brother of Kenny!) record label which, for various reasons, means that Billy Patt and co. likely hailed from either Houston or Los Angeles.
2. Saturday’s Children, Deck Five (Dunwich)
A classy Chicago group who wore dark Beatles suits, posed with umbrellas, and generally pursued their Anglophilia to obsessive lengths. They had a few high-quality British Invasion-styled singles on the hip Dunwich label. This, however, was their strangest release. It’s seasonal fare. Seasonal fare that also happens to be an highly listenable mutation of, yes, "Take 5” - this time with "Deck the Halls" vocals forcibly whipped into it like some sort of unholy Christmas frappe.
3. Hank Levine, Swingin’ Village (Dolton)
This jazzy concoction steers wildly between insistent “Take 5”-style chording and a jumble of melodic references to “Summertime” (another jazz hipster’s anthem). It also begs the question, “What isn’t improved by adding vibes and Latin percussion?” The answer is, of course, nothing.
Hank Levine mostly stayed behind the scenes as a freelance Los Angeles studio producer & arranger in the '50s and '60s, but he did issue at least a few other great 45s ("Image" and "Portrait of a Blonde," most notably) under his own name.
4. France Gall, Pense a Moi (Just Think of Me) (Philips)
France Gall - blonde, bright, blindingly French - sings her little seventeen year old heart out over what is probably the moddest version of "Take Five.”
“Pense a Moi” was from 1964, and, sadly, it was one of only a few Gall records to be released domestically. It seems that Gall, while wildly popular in her own country, was, like so many of her countrymen, ultimately just too French to ever make much of a splash anywhere else.
And, without further ado, “Take Five” is my inaugural theme for Office Naps.
1. Billy Patt Quintett, Passion (An Act of Love) (Sabra)Never mind that it’s actually a quartet heard here. Patt and Co., who iced down heads all over town with this smooth 5/4 cocktail, couldn’t be bothered with technical minutiae like that. Notice also that, if you listen carefully enough, you can hear their matching double-breasted charcoal gray wool jackets, which leads one to speculate that the un-credited member was actually their tailor. Otherwise, no word on who Billy Patt was, or what his brand of Scotch might have been.
Sabra was Lelan Rogers' (brother of Kenny!) record label which, for various reasons, means that Billy Patt and co. likely hailed from either Houston or Los Angeles.
2. Saturday’s Children, Deck Five (Dunwich) A classy Chicago group who wore dark Beatles suits, posed with umbrellas, and generally pursued their Anglophilia to obsessive lengths. They had a few high-quality British Invasion-styled singles on the hip Dunwich label. This, however, was their strangest release. It’s seasonal fare. Seasonal fare that also happens to be an highly listenable mutation of, yes, "Take 5” - this time with "Deck the Halls" vocals forcibly whipped into it like some sort of unholy Christmas frappe.
3. Hank Levine, Swingin’ Village (Dolton) This jazzy concoction steers wildly between insistent “Take 5”-style chording and a jumble of melodic references to “Summertime” (another jazz hipster’s anthem). It also begs the question, “What isn’t improved by adding vibes and Latin percussion?” The answer is, of course, nothing.
Hank Levine mostly stayed behind the scenes as a freelance Los Angeles studio producer & arranger in the '50s and '60s, but he did issue at least a few other great 45s ("Image" and "Portrait of a Blonde," most notably) under his own name.
4. France Gall, Pense a Moi (Just Think of Me) (Philips) France Gall - blonde, bright, blindingly French - sings her little seventeen year old heart out over what is probably the moddest version of "Take Five.”
“Pense a Moi” was from 1964, and, sadly, it was one of only a few Gall records to be released domestically. It seems that Gall, while wildly popular in her own country, was, like so many of her countrymen, ultimately just too French to ever make much of a splash anywhere else.
Labels: Miscellaneous Flotsam
posted by DJ Little Danny at 1:15 PM
4 Comments:
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dear LD,
Belated or not, beknighted or what you will, i must comment indignantly that you, even you, Little D, who knows all, tells all, and is all, have forgotten that there was a SWISS version of this disc, titled "Prenez Quatre" (it was tres vite) recorded by L'Orchestre de la Suisse Rotunde, under duress (a guest conductor) for a too-vivified Vevey village fete in 1965. Tho it rec'd just one broadcast, remembered solely for the fact that Duress fell into Lac Leman and had to be fished out with his brandy fondu still en hand in place of the more useful "baton", nonetheless I would have expected you, Little Dan, to have noted this item in all its obscurity. (Heaven forbid that you try to play it! )
Entre nous,
7883danfan
Dear 7883: Thanks! It's a great background story, and I will keep my rat-like little eyes peeled for this mysterious L'Orchestre d.l. "Suisse Rotunde."
If I'm not mistaken, The Saturday's Children track has been 6/8-ified.
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