Feeling Wholly Beat (Plus Some)
Wednesday. Man, I am just really not into work today. Not that I am on other days, but today even more so. I have nothing due today, so I basically have to find things to do. Needless to say, I am not searching too hard. I am traveling to corporate HQ tomorrow, so I most likely won't be posting for the next couple of days. I know it will be hard on you all, but try to fight back those tears. It's only for a few days...
I listened to Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet this morning. I first heard this album several years ago (‘98? ‘99?) when a former boss lent it to me when she heard me say I liked Miles Davis. This album is of mention for several reasons. First, Take Five from this album was the first jazz record to sell over a million copies. Second, this record is renowned for its experiments in time signature, specifically 5/4 (hence the name, Take Five). Of course, this album also has its detractors. Some argue that Dave Brubeck wasn't the first person to experiment with time signatures and only because of his ethnicity did people pay attention (or buy that many records). Others argue that time signature is irrelevant in jazz music, and it isn't the time in which the note is played, but the way the note is played (or in some cases, not played). I don't know. I'm not going to comment on the ethnicity issue, and I don't read music well enough to have a strong enough opinion on the other. All I know is that my brain and ears tell me that I like it when I listen to this album, and that is pretty much the deciding factor in cases such as these. While to me it is no Kind of Blue (to which it is often compared), I think it is a pretty good record and accessible to even the most casual jazz fan.
(I once worked at a place where a customer called up and for some reason went on a tirade about how much she despised Dave Brubeck. At the time I was less puzzled by her abhorrence than I was that she didn't even stop to question if I even knew who Dave Brubeck was (I did, see above) in this age of rap and rock domination.)
I listened to Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet this morning. I first heard this album several years ago (‘98? ‘99?) when a former boss lent it to me when she heard me say I liked Miles Davis. This album is of mention for several reasons. First, Take Five from this album was the first jazz record to sell over a million copies. Second, this record is renowned for its experiments in time signature, specifically 5/4 (hence the name, Take Five). Of course, this album also has its detractors. Some argue that Dave Brubeck wasn't the first person to experiment with time signatures and only because of his ethnicity did people pay attention (or buy that many records). Others argue that time signature is irrelevant in jazz music, and it isn't the time in which the note is played, but the way the note is played (or in some cases, not played). I don't know. I'm not going to comment on the ethnicity issue, and I don't read music well enough to have a strong enough opinion on the other. All I know is that my brain and ears tell me that I like it when I listen to this album, and that is pretty much the deciding factor in cases such as these. While to me it is no Kind of Blue (to which it is often compared), I think it is a pretty good record and accessible to even the most casual jazz fan.
(I once worked at a place where a customer called up and for some reason went on a tirade about how much she despised Dave Brubeck. At the time I was less puzzled by her abhorrence than I was that she didn't even stop to question if I even knew who Dave Brubeck was (I did, see above) in this age of rap and rock domination.)
posted by john at 2:35 PM
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