"Take Five" by Paul Desmond is probably the most famous piece of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. This version here does not show any percussion, which was, according to Paul Desmond, its main part. "'Take Five' was never supposed to be a hit. It was supposed to be a Joe Morello drum solo." But the score I used didn't have any drum notation, and MIDI is not really suitable to reproduce jazz, even if it's as strict and regular as "Take Five". If you really want to hear "Take Five" you have to listen to Dave Brubeck or some of the other performers who covered or re-interpreted it, or you may be able to get together with some friends and play it yourself. The score I used was meant for a piano alone, and possibly a guitar. I just took the score's right hand and gave it to MIDI instrument 66 "Alto Sax". Apart from the introduction, only the left hand of the score I used was then left for the piano. All the repeat signs are mine; the original score used four pages, this fits comfortably on two. Here are some liner notes from the original LP "Time Out" (1959) by Steve Race: "Take Five" is a Desmond composition in 5/4, one of the most defiant time-signatures in all music, for the performer and 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 composer's!- "Take Five" really swings. Recorded on July 1, 1959 at 30th Street Columbia Studios The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Dave Brubeck: piano Paul Desmond: alto saxophone Eugene Wright: bass Joe Morello: drums Brisbane, August 2003 Michael Bednarek http://mcmbednarek.tripod.com/