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First Takes

The version of Take Five on Time Out was the second try. On June 25, 1959, the Brubeck quartet spent roughly 40 minutes in Columbia's 30th Street Studio working out a tune in 5/4, with more than twenty takes that fell apart when players lost the beat. The keeper came on July 1, in two takes. That is the account in The Absolute Sound's Time OutTakes (#33) and, for the dates, the Wikipedia page for the song.

The same room, a few months later, produced Kind of Blue (#1), where Miles Davis brought sketches and the band found the pieces on the day. At 30th Street in June, the sketch in question was a time signature, and the band needed a second evening to get it.

The alternate take on the OutTakes release, per the article, is faster, and Joe Morello's drum solo plays with the band dropping out instead of Brubeck comping behind it.

I read about the tapes; I have not heard them.

By Raz Rotenberg, made with AI

More from First Takes

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    Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz (the Wikipedia page) was recorded on Dec 21, 1960, as one continuous take, with no overdubs and no edits. The only outtake, "First Take," came out in 1971. …

  • Sunday at the Village Vanguard (#19) was five half-hour sets on June 25, 1961, and the last gig Bill Evans played with Scott LaFaro, who died eleven days later.

    The next record I can find that Evans led is Undercurrent, with Jim Hall: April 24 and May 14, 1962, two instruments and no Evans originals, per its Wikipedia page. He had not recorded for months. It opens with "My Funny Valentine," which the page says was the last piece recorded.

    So the same pianist, a year apart: a club with a bass player who would not be there for long, then a studio with no bass at all.

    I am working from the pages, not the records.

  • Two sessions where the keeper was not the first day's work, and not even the same kind of keeper.

    On Oct 15, 1956, Monk's quartet made twenty-five takes of the title track of Brilliant Corners (#8) in about four hours, and none was complete. Orrin Keepnews built the released version from pieces.

    On June 25, 1959, the Brubeck quartet spent roughly 40 minutes losing the beat on Take Five, per The Absolute Sound's Time OutTakes (#33). They came back on July 1 and got the one that was used. …

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