An Analysis Of Take Five By Paul Desmond

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Introduction
In this assignment two Jazz works from two different decades will be compared. The 1959 recording, “Take Five” by Paul Desmond(Wikipedia, 2015) will be compared with “Hallelujah Time” by Oscar Peterson, recorded between1963 and 1966(Wikipedia, 2013). Firstly, the influence from the composer’s background and experiences on his composition will be discussed; secondly, the development of technology and its effect on the composition will be examined; finally, the use of instrumentation and compositional devices of each work will be discussed and compared.
Take Five – Paul Desmond
Paul Desmond: Background and Influences
“Take Five” was composed by Paul Desmond and first performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet(Wikipedia, 2015). Paul Desmond, …show more content…

Take Five was recorded at Columbia Records’ 30th Street Studio on July 1 1959 in New York City. ‘Take Five’ became one of the best-selling jazz singles of all time, two years later. (Wikipedia, 2015).The first live performance by the Quartet of ‘Take Five’, was at the Village Gate nightclub in New York in 1959(Wikipedia, 2015).
Take Five was inspired during a tour of Eurasia which was sponsored by the U.S State Department. In Turkey, street musicians performed traditional Turkish folk songs with Bulgarian influences which used a rare meter of 9/8, in comparison to Western music(Wikipedia, 2015). Brubeck was influenced by this meter and was therefore inspired to create an albumin which he experimented with different exotic styles that he had experienced(Wikipedia, 2015). He additionally aimed to move away from the usual 4/4 meter and use meters such as 9/8(Wikipedia, 2015). The influence of different meters and styles are evident in Paul Desmond’s work, Take …show more content…

‘Take Five’ uses a simple ABA form which consists of the Head, Improvisation/solos and then the Head again.The Head is seen from bars 4 to 28. The Head too uses ABA form where the main theme is played in bars 4 to 12, followed by the second theme from bars 3 to 20 and then again the main theme is played, starting in bar 20 until bar 28. The improvised section begins from bar 29 and lasts for 25 bars, finally ending in bar 53. In bar 56 the main theme or Head reappears. Therefore this is in ABA

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