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"Blue Rondo A La Turk", plunges straight into the most jazz remote time signature, 9/8, grouped not in the usual form (3-3-3) but 2-2-2-3. When the gusty opening section gives way to a more familiar jazz beat, the three eighth notes have become equivalent to one quarter note, and an alternating 9/8 4/4 time leads into a fine solo by Paul Desmond. Dave follows, with a characteristically neat transition into the heavy block chords which are a familiar facet of his style, and before long, "Rondo A La Turk" is a stamping, shouting blues. Later the tension is dropped deliberately for Paul's reentry, and for the alternate double bars of 9 and 4 time which herald the returning theme. The whole piece is in classical rondo form.
"Strange Meadow Lark" opens with Brubeck playing rubato, though there are overtones of 3s and 4s, and the phrase length is an unusual 10 bars. Dave's performance throughout is simple and expressive, with fine support from Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. "Meadow Lark" closes with a contribution from the wistful, dream-like saxophone of Paul Desmond.
"Take Five" is a Desmond composition in 5/4, one of the most defiant time signatures in all music, for the performer and the listener alike. Conscious of how easily the listener can lose his way in a quintuple rhythm, Dave plays a constant vamp figure throughout, maintaining it even under Joe Morello's drum solo. It is interesting to notice how Morello gradually releases himself from the rigidity of the 5/4 pulse, creating intricate and often counter patterns over the piano figure. And, contrary to any normal expectation, perhaps even the composers, "Take Five" really swings.
At first hearing, "Three To Get Ready" promises to be a simple, Hydyn-esque waltz theme in C major. But before long it begins to vacillate between 3 and 4 time, and the pattern becomes clear: two bars of 3, followed by two bars of 4. It is a metrical theme which suits Dave Brubeck down to the ground; his solo here is one of the albums highspots.
"Kathy's Waltz" (dedicated to Dave's little daughter) starts in 4, only later breaking into quick waltz time. As in the now famous "Someday My Prince Will Come," Dave starts in triple time, then urges his piano into a rocking slow 4. Theoretically it is as if Morello's three beats had ceased to be the basic pulse and had become triplets in a slow 4 beat blues though with Wright's 1 in a bar bass as the constant link between piano and drums. The listener who keeps abreast of the cross rhythms here can congratulate himself on sharing with the Brubeck Quartet an enlightened rhythmic sense. Even feet are useless in following a time experiment of such complexity.
"Everybody's Jumpin" opens without any precise feeling of key, but a vague impression of 6/4 time, and a strong beat. Joe Morello's drum solo shows again what a superb colorist he is on the canvas of percussion tone.
With "Pick Up Sticks" the earlier hint of 6/4 becomes positive. As so often in Brubecks time experiments, it is the bass part which supplies the anchor for the listener. This time Eugene Wright plays a regular pattern of six notes: a passacaglia on which is built the whole structure of this closing number.
"Round Midnight"
Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra