Time Out, The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Blue Rondo A La Turk*
Strange Meadow Lark
Take Five
Three To Get Ready*
Kathy's Waltz
Everybody's Jumpin'*
Pick Up Sticks

Before everyone starts whining, "But, I don't listen to jazz," this album, if any, will be your exception. Recognizable, catchy, simple but brilliant, Time Out is to jazz what Mitch Hedberg was to comedy: a straight 38 minutes of non-sequiturs.

The album title references exercises in unique time signatures for jazz. Featured are jazz waltz's, 9/8 time, and most famously 5/4. Now, this is really quite meaningless with regards to musical expression, but the pun of calling the album Time Out is meaningful. The album is connected because of the rhythmic elements; and using a (to be honest) cheesy pun as a title expresses the silly attitude of the playing. Not that the playing isn't great or that sincerity and determination are lacking in the delivery; on the contrary, Brubeck and the Quartet find their own in this playfulness. Catchy melodies, great playing, and some rhythmic wit.

What I mean by rhythmic wit goes beyond just the time signatures themselves. Compositionally there is an indecision as to where to place each punch line. Sometimes the waltz builds to a slow swing, or vice versa. Maybe the piano will play half the speed of the bass, which will play half the speed of the drums. There is an open mind to try out different things while being coherent melodically and harmonically. Whether written into the piece or improvised by the soloist, the experimentation works every time. I don't know which is more absurdly successful; the switch from dramatic, fast toccata-like playing to medium swing in Blue Rondo A La Turk or the reference to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" in the Sax solo in Strange Meadow Lark. Its probably the decaying 3 against 4 at the very end of the album, with Joe Morello altering the pitch of his drums with his hands.

Earlier I said 38 minutes of non-sequiturs and what was meant was that each track seems as unrelated as the next (almost like these paragraphs... wait, what?). Sometimes random, like the cheek of Three to Get Ready (dubbed because it revolves two bars in 3/4 time and two bars in 4/4 time, so three to prepare to swing), or the over the top but perfect drum solo in Take Five. As the album progresses, the undeniable charm of the quartet reels you in and forces your foot to tap, which is easily the most impressive feat of the album: to explore many different rhythmic and tempo feels, but make each one groove. Through all the meter change, it is effortless every time.

Time Out, though not a heartfelt search for meaning, is a masterpiece. It takes an idea: explore the possibilities of rhythm in the jazz idiom (as defined in the 1950's) and expands on the idea through composition, improvisation, and interaction.

If you have ever hummed in your entire life, you will find something on this album to like. It isn't the best jazz album of all time, but it might just be the cleverest.

Grade: A+