Time Out

📖 About this album

The best-selling jazz album in history. The Dave Brubeck Quartet experimented with unusual time signatures — 5/4, 9/8 — producing Take Five, the most recognizable jazz piece ever recorded. It brought genuine sophistication to a wide audience without sacrificing anything.

📝 Our review

Time Out grew from a frustrated commission—Brubeck wanted to explore asymmetrical rhythms that labels resisted—and became one of the best-selling jazz albums in history. The odd-time signature of "Take Five" (5/4) became the standard for accessible strangeness. Brubeck's trio with Paul Desmond on alto sax builds melodies that sound inevitable even when constructed on unnatural meters. An album that disproved the idea that difficult jazz doesn't sell.

Compare your score with our editorial rating