| "Unsquare Dance" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Dave Brubeck | |
| B-side | "Camptown Races" |
| Released | 1961 |
| Recorded | 1961 |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Length | 2:00 |
| Label | CBS |
| Songwriter(s) | Dave Brubeck |
| Producer(s) | Teo Macero |
"Unsquare Dance" is a composition by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck that was released as a single in 1961. Included on Brubeck's album Time Further Out , the piece reached No. 93 on the Cash Box chart on December 16, 1961. [1]
Written in 7
4 time, the piece is an example of Dave Brubeck's exploration of time signatures that were uncommon in jazz music of the era. According to Brubeck, it was written during a single trip from his home to the recording studio and was recorded the same day. The composition is based on a blues structure but also has a distinct country and western feel, as implied in the title (a square dance being a fixture of western US culture). "Unsquare Dance" is driven by a strong bass figure, with percussion provided primarily by the rim of the snare drum and hand claps. It combines duple and triple meter. [2]
The piano enters with descending phrases crossing the 7
4 rhythm. The speed of the piece gradually increases from start to finish. The main theme then develops initially without left accompaniment and then with a characteristic figure based around the use of tenths. A drum solo using rim clicks follows, then a restatement of the theme and a distinctive conclusion.
Brubeck says in his liner notes:
"Unsquare Dance", in 7/4 time, is a challenge to the foot-tappers, finger-snappers and hand-clappers. Deceitfully simple, it refuses to be squared. And the laugh you hear at the end is Joe Morello's guffaw of surprise and relief that we had managed to get through the difficult last chorus.
"Unsquare Dance" was included on the album Time Further Out and became a hit single, peaking at No. 74 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [3] and No. 14 on the U.K.'s Record Retailer chart. [4]
The song was featured in the 2017 action film Baby Driver , and was included on the soundtrack album.
David Warren Brubeck was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, tonalities, and combining different styles and genres, like classic, jazz, and blues.
Joseph Albert Morello was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "classic lineup" from 1958 to 1968, which also included alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and bassist Eugene Wright. Morello's facility for playing unusual time signatures and rhythms enabled that group to record a series of albums that explored them. The most notable of these was the first in the series, the 1959 album Time Out, which contained the hit songs "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk". In fact, "Take Five", the album's biggest hit was specifically written by Desmond as a way to showcase Morello's ability to play in 5
4 time.
Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero was an American jazz record producer, saxophonist, and composer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Dave Brubeck's Time Out, two of the best-selling and most influential jazz albums of all time. Macero was known for his innovative use of editing and tape manipulation unprecedented in jazz and proving influential on subsequent fusion, experimental rock, electronica, post-punk, no wave, and acid jazz.
"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Frequently covered by a variety of artists, the track is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.
Time Out is a studio album by the American jazz group the Dave Brubeck Quartet, released in 1959 on Columbia Records. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9
8, 6
4 and 5
4. The album is a subtle blend of cool and West Coast jazz.
Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit "The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Brenda & the Tabulations, David Ruffin, The Stylistics, The Presidents, Faith, Hope & Charity, New Censation, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Aretha Franklin, Peaches & Herb, Lesley Gore, and Stacy Lattisaw.
Christopher Brubeck is an American musician and composer, both in jazz and classical music. As a musician, he mainly plays bass guitar, bass trombone, and piano. The son of jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, he joined his father and brothers Darius and Daniel in 1972 to form the New Brubeck Quartet. He later formed the Brubeck Brothers Quartet.
Jazz Impressions of New York is a jazz album released by Dave Brubeck. The compositions were for the television show Mr. Broadway.
"Blue Rondo à la Turk" is a jazz standard composition by Dave Brubeck. It appeared on the album Time Out in 1959. It is written in 9
8 time, with one side theme in 4
4, and the choice of rhythm was inspired by the Turkish aksak time signatures. It was originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Dave Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond on alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass, and Joe Morello on drums.
The Real Ambassadors is a jazz musical developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s by Dave and Iola Brubeck, in collaboration with Louis Armstrong and his band. It addressed the Civil Rights Movement, the music business, America's place in the world during the Cold War, the nature of God, and a number of other themes. It was set in a fictional African nation called Talgalla, and its central character was based on Armstrong and his time as a jazz ambassador. It was the first major large scale musical collaboration between Dave and Iola Brubeck and served as a template for their future musical collaborations. Songs from the musical were recorded by Columbia Records and a soundtrack album was released in 1962, just before the show's premiere at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival with an all star cast.
Time Further Out is a jazz studio album by the Dave Brubeck Quartet released by Columbia Records in November 1961. It features the "classic" lineup of the quartet: pianist and leader Dave Brubeck, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello. The album was recorded by engineer Fred Plaut and produced by Teo Macero.
Time Changes is a 1964 album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual in jazz music.
Brubeck Time is a jazz album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, a rare studio recording from that period of the band, when it was recording mostly live albums. It was recorded in the fall of 1954, and originally released in 1955 under the Columbia label as CL 622. In 1968, Columbia re-channeled the album for stereo and re-released it as Instant Brubeck under the Harmony label as HS 11253. It was later re-released again on CD in 1991 under the title Interchanges '54 as CK 47032, with the addition of four tracks from Jazz: Red Hot and Cool.
Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein is a 1961 studio album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Its title refers to the fact that it consists of both a Brubeck composition conducted by Leonard Bernstein and Bernstein compositions played by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The title is also an echo of Dave Brubeck's 1956 solo debut album, Brubeck Plays Brubeck.
Time In is a 1966 studio album by Dave Brubeck, the last of Brubeck's 'Time' series.
"In Your Own Sweet Way" is a 1955 jazz standard, and one of the most famous compositions by Dave Brubeck. It was written around 1952, but its copyright notice was dated 1955. Brubeck's wife Iola, for whom the song was written, later wrote a lyric for the song, which led to singers such as Carmen McRae recording it. "In Your Own Sweet Way" was first released on Brubeck's 1956 studio album Brubeck Plays Brubeck; an earlier live recording is known.
Countdown—Time in Outer Space is a studio album released by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1962 on Columbia LP record CS 8575 (stereo) and CL 1775 (mono). The front cover features the 1959 painting Orange and Black Wall by Franz Kline. In Australia the album appeared on the Coronet label. It was re-released, for the first time in digital format, in 2004 as part of a compact disc collection titled Dave Brubeck: For All Time. It was again released as part of the box set The Dave Brubeck Quartet: the Columbia Studio Albums Collection 1955-1966. Both CD re-releases feature a bonus track titled "Fatha".
Bossa Nova U.S.A. is a studio album released by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1963 by Columbia originally in the United States as LP record CS 8798 (stereo) and CL 1998 (mono) and in England as SBPG 62127. It was also released by CBS in Australia, as catalog SPB 233.038.
Two Generations of Brubeck is a 1973 studio album by Dave Brubeck accompanied by his sons Darius, Chris and Dan.
Jazz Impressions of Eurasia is a studio album by pianist Dave Brubeck and his quartet recorded after, and inspired by, their 1958 world tour sponsored by the American state department during which they played 80 concerts in 14 countries, including Turkey, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, over three months. In the liner notes to the album, Brubeck notes that "These sketches of Eurasia have been developed from random musical phrases I jotted down in my notebook as we chugged across the fields of Europe, or skimmed across the deserts of Asia, or walked in the alleyways of an ancient bazaar. ... I tried to create an impression of a particular locale by using some of the elements of their folk music within the jazz idiom." The album was recorded in July and August 1958 at the Columbia 30th St. Studios in New York.
