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115 of 119 found the following review helpful:
Play it Once, and Your Speakers Will Never Be the Same. May 29, 2003
By The Groove
When I heard that Sony remastered this CD, I immediately grabbed myself a copy. Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" isn't just a great album; it also gives me fond childhood memories from when I first listened to this recording as a toddler. At the risk of recycling a cliche, it's one of those vital albums that transcends musical boundaries, and it's accessible to the masses while also remaining cutting edge. Producer Teo Macero, who is also responsible for some of Miles Davis' most essential recordings, brings out the very best in each of the players on this record. In my opinion, the very heart of this 1959 release is the exceptional "Take Five." The dynamic interaction between Brubeck's piano and Paul Desmond's expressive saxophone makes this one of the most unforgettable and powerful pieces of jazz ever played on a vinyl record. Other album cuts like "Three to Get Ready" and "Blue Rondo a la Turk" are timeless pieces that are so effortlessly graceful they seem to walk on water. Along with Miles' "Kind of Blue" and Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," Brubeck's "Time Out" is one of THE essential jazz recordings to own. It's a 100% risk-free purchase; even more so with the newly repackaged and remastered edition. But don't just take my word for it. "Time Out" is an experience that has to be heard to be believed.
97 of 102 found the following review helpful:
Take Five - Stars, That Is! Jan 29, 2002
By Mike King
"Mike Vegas King"
"Time Out" is by far my favorite jazz album of all time. I never get tired of hearing it. It would definitely make my list of desert island discs. I also dig the painting which serves as the album cover. The superb pianist Dave Brubeck is the nominal leader of the group, frantically kicking off the opening classic track "Blue Rondo A La Turk." Drummer Joe Morello amazingly keeps perfect time during all of the tempo shifts. He particularly shines on the appropriately named tune "Pick Up Sticks." Saxophonist Paul Desmond takes center stage on the most famous track of all, "Take Five." This song has rightfully taken its place among the greatest instrumentals of all time. Rounding out the quartet, Eugene Wright's bass deftly anchors the beat on the melodic "Kathy's Waltz." The song "Everybody's Jumpin'" would be right at home on an album of sophisticated swing music. I'm no jazz expert who can expound on exotic time signatures, but I know what I like. I love "Time Out" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet!
59 of 61 found the following review helpful:
The best, most accesible jazz album ever. Nov 19, 1998
I work in the seafood business. We have a saying in the indrustry that states: " Shrimp is the seafood for people who don't like fish." Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" is the shrimp of jazz. From the booming intensity of "Blue Rondo A La Turk" to the melodic sweetness of "Strange Meadow Lark," one cannot even tell that the album is an exercise in unusual time signatures. But it is. Most jazz is in "common" or 4/4 time, which means four beats to a measure. "Time Out" explores alternative time signatures such as 5/4, "Take Five", 9/8, "Blue Rondo A La Turk", and 6/4, "Pick Up Sticks". I was exposed to this album by my father, who played it more than any other album he had; he had a collection of more than 1000 records,including Garner, Getz, Waller, Goodman, Kenton, Jamal, and of course, every Brubeck "album" (we don't call them those anymore, do we?) available at the time. For a first time jazz listener, I would recommend this recording highly. The piano, bass, saxophone, and drums work together in a way that only Brubeck has been able to orchestrate. Joe Morello's drum solo in "Take Five" is the best since Gene Krupa in Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing". Morello tunes his drums to approximate the notes of the melody. Paul Desmond's sax is at its playful best. His work on "Strange Meadow Lark" is both wistful and sexy. "Take Five", his own composition, was the first jazz record ever to sell a million copies. Listen carefully to Gene Wright's bass lines. Like a compass, they guide us through the treacherous terrains of Brubeck's bombastic blasts and Desmond's delightful designs. All in all, the best, most accessible jazz album ever. '
45 of 47 found the following review helpful:
The Quartet at it's best! Mar 01, 1999
When the inimitable Dave Brubeck Quartet went into the studio in the summer of 1959, they created a timeless, monumental message in jazz. Nearly everyone, jazz fan or not, has heard the classic "Take Five", the only Paul Desmond composition on the album. It feautures teriffic solos from Desmond on his dreamy, wistful alto. Brubeck takes a backseat on this piece to allow drummer Joe Morello to play a stunning, brilliant solo. The remaining tracks on the album are equally strong. The driving, insistent rythym of "Blue Rondo A La Turk" nearly knocked me out of my chair at first listen. The magnificent "Strange Meadow Lark" is both Brubeck and Desmond at their definiitive best. The rest of the album is a sheer delight, untouched by the fourty years that have passed. DBQ didn't expect their seminal foray into exotic and rare time signatures to be a success. However, one note of one song on this album will tell you why that happened.
30 of 31 found the following review helpful:
 An accessible look at odd time signatures Dec 14, 2000
By Kelvin S. Yew
"it was never supposed to be a hit" says Paul Desmond of "Take five", the number penned by himself on this album. His statement was perhaps representative of this album.Recorded by the Dave Brubeck quartet in 1959, consisting of Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass) and Joe Morello (drums), this aptly titled album explores the use of odd time signatures not commonly used in jazz, much less western music. Influenced by music from their travels in the Middle East and India, the quartet attempts to incorporate much of the rhythms into this album. Their effort resulted in this landmark work. "Blue Rondo a la Turk", with its 9/8 transitioning to 4/4 straight ahead blues in block chords and back again to 9/8 starts off with the frenzied feel of a whirling dervish with a rather odd bridge into a laid back blues and back again. "Take Five" by Paul Desmond swings with such ease that the 5/4 feel is barely felt. Witness people tapping their fingers to the odd time signature as though they have been hearing it all their lives. Joe Morello throws down some virtusotic solos in this challenging 5/4 time. Unfortunately, the popularity of these two songs eclipses the beauty of the experimental feel of the rest of the album. "Kathy's waltz" in 4/4 transitioning to 6/4, while not odd time signatures by jazz standards certainly is unusual for its transition in those days. The album has stood the test of time and curiously enough, it is the 2 songs which were stylistically the most adventurous which are remembered. The body of work seems somewhat constrained to the swing jazz idiom. Perhaps this is understandable with the emergence of west coast cool and the era of Miles Davis, and Stan Kenton et al. It is only with the advent of electric instruments and the Mahavishnu Orchestra which were able to further push the envelope of the odd time signature a notch further. All in all, a Jazz album must have.
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