Today in Music (1959): Dave Brubeck Time Out charted

Time Out Dave Brubeck

Charted: November 28, 1959 Recorded: June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959 Peak: 2 US, 11 UK Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Genre: jazz

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Blue Rondo a la Turk Strange Meadowlark Take Five (9/11/61, 25 BB, 5 AC, 6 UK, air: 1 million) Three to Get Ready Kathy’s Waltz Everybody’s Jumpin’ Pick up Sticks Total Running Time: 38:30 The Players: Dave Brubeck (piano) Paul Desmond (alto saxophone) Eugene Wright (bass) Joe Morello (drums)

Rating: 4.346 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings) Quotable: “This belongs in even the most rudimentary jazz collection.” – Steve Huey, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Dave Brubeck’s “name is spoken with the same reverence as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and between the three of them they all but defined jazz in the middle of the century.” CS He was “appreciated for his thick chord structures, complex improvisations, and his ability to dip a toe into dischord and atonality without drenching himself in chaos.” CS His “defining masterpiece, Time Out is one of the most rhythmically innovative albums in jazz history, the first to consciously explore time signatures outside of the standard 4/4 beat or 3/4 waltz time. It was a risky move – Brubeck’s record company wasn’t keen on releasing such an arty project, and many critics initially roasted him for tampering with jazz’s rhythmic foundation.” SH However, “for once, public taste was more advanced than that of the critics.” SH The album got to #2 on the Bilboard album chart and stayed on the chart for more than three years, “something wholly unexpected from an avant-garde jazz album.” CS It “still ranks as one of the most popular jazz albums ever.” SH One of the factors that helped the album catch on with the public was the unexpected success of Take Five. It was the only song on the album not written by Brubeck. Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond wrote the hit single which was initially planned to be a drum solo for Joe Morello. CS “Brubeck’s classic Blue Rondo à la Turk blends jazz with classical form and Turkish folk rhythms, while ‘Take Five,’ despite its overexposure, really is a masterpiece; listen to how well Desmond’s solo phrasing fits the 5/4 meter, and how much Joe Morello’s drum solo bends time without getting lost.” SH “The other selections are richly melodic as well, and even when the meters are even, the group sets up shifting polyrhythmic counterpoints that nod to African and Eastern musics. Some have come to disdain Time Out as it’s become increasingly synonymous with upscale coffeehouse ambience, but as someone once said of Shakespeare, it’s really very good in spite of the people who like it. It doesn’t just sound sophisticated – it really is sophisticated music, which lends itself to cerebral appreciation, yet never stops swinging. Countless other musicians built on its pioneering experiments, yet it’s amazingly accessible for all its advanced thinking, a rare feat in any art form. This belongs in even the most rudimentary jazz collection.” SH

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Dave Brubeck SH Steve Huey, All Music Guide CS Chris Smith (2009). 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music. Oxford University Press. Pages 13-15. WK Wikipedia First posted 2/17/2010; last updated 3/20/2024.

 

Jay-Z hit #1 with “Empire State of Mind”

Empire State of Mind Jay-Z with Alicia Keys

Writer(s): Angela Hunte, Alicia Keys, Alexander Shuckburgh, Burt Keyes, Janet "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic, Shawn Carter, Sylvia Robinson (see lyrics here) Released: October 20, 2009 First Charted: September 19, 2009 Peak: 15 US, 5 RR, 39 A40, 13 RB, 2 UK, 3 CN, 4 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.51 US, 0.77 UK, 6.49 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.4 radio, 213.07 video, 767.29 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Empire State of Mind” was written by Angela Hunte and Jane’t Sewell Ulepic as a tribute to their hometown of New York City. They wrote it while overseas in London and feeling homesick. They submitted the song to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label and it was initially rejected. However, EMI’s Jon Platt heard the track at a barbeque and sent it to Jay-Z again. Jay-Z kept the singing part of the hook, but changed the verses. WK Initially Hunte was still going to sing the hook, but she suggested Alicia Keys. WK Because of the track’s piano loops based on a riff from the Moments’ “classic 1970 soul ballad ‘Love on a Two-Way Street,’” SS Jay-Z wanted Key’s piano and vocal talents. He called her and said, “I feel like I have this record that’s going to be the anthem of New York…and it couldn’t be the anthem of New York without you.” WK She went by the studio and listened to it and, as she said, “I really felt the energy of New York all through it…I said ‘I love it, so let’s do it.’” SF The song allowed Jay-Z and Alicia Keys “to shout the praises of the city in which both…had been raised.” SS Complex magazine agreed with Jay-Z’s assessment, saying that the song “has replaced Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ as the city’s go-to anthem.” WK The New York Racing Association concurred when they replaced “New York, New York” with “Empire State of Mind” as the opening song at the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes. WK The song also got attention during the New York Yankees’ World Series run and Jay-Z performed it at their victory parade. SF The song was Jay-Z’s fourth time to reach the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100, but his first time as a lead artist. WK The song was a top ten hit in Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. WK The song won Grammys for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Entertainment Weekly named it the best single of 2009. WK Resources: SF Songfacts SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 726. WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 6/20/2023.

Today in Music (1959): The Sound of Music opened on Broadway

The Sound of Music Richard Rodgers (music), Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics)

The Musical

Opened on Broadway: November 16, 1959 Number of Performances: 1443 Opened at London’s West End: May 18, 1961 Number of Performances: 2386 Movie Release: March 29, 1965

Cast Album

Charted: December 21, 1959 Peak: 116 US Sales (in millions): 2.5 US Genre: show tunes

Soundtrack

Charted: March 20, 1965 Peak: 12 US, 170 UK Sales (in millions): 15.0 US, 2.44 UK, 22.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: show tunes

Songs on Cast Album: Preludium The Sound of Music Maria My Favorite Things Do-Re-Mi Sixteen Going on Seventeen The Lonely Goatherd How Can Love Survive? The Sound of Music (Reprise) Laendler So Long, Farewell Climb Ev’ry Mountain No Way to Stop It An Ordinary Couple Processional Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Reprise) Edelweiss Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Reprise) Songs on Soundtrack: Prelude/The Sound of Music Overture/Preludium (Dixet Dominus) Morning Hymn/Alleluia Maria I Have Confidence Sixteen Going on Seventeen My Favorite Things Do-Re-Mi The Sound of Music The Lonely Goatherd So Long, Farewell Climb Ev’ry Mountain Something Good Processional/Maria Edelweiss Climb Ev’ry Mountain (Reprise) Singles/Hit Songs: These were covers of songs from this musical which became hits: “The Sound of Music” – Patti Page (#90 BB, 1959) “My Favorite Things” – Herb Alpert (#45 BB, 1968) “Do-Re-Mi” – Mitch Miller (#70, 1959), Anita Bryant (#94 BB, 1959) “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” – Tony Bennett (#74 BB, 1959), Hesitations (#90 BB, 1968)

Rating: 4.439 out of 5.00 (average of 14 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined) Awards (Cast Album): (Click on award to learn more). Awards (Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).

The Show’s Status The Sound of Music was the final work for the famous musical theater team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. (The latter died in 1960). “It’s part of the fabric of musical theater, championed as an artistic triumph in some quarters and regarded, no less affectionately, as kitsch in others.” TM The pair previously worked on iconic musicals like South Pacific and The King and I. Like those, this was “set in a foreign locale, it starred a female lead in charge of children, it concerned an unlikely romance between an older man and a younger woman, it had a social/political element, and it featured a stirring anthem for a soprano (in this case, ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’).” AM-C The Story The musical was based on a book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. It drew heavily from Maria Von Trapp’s autobiography. TB She was a nun in Austria prior to World War II. She became a governess for Captain George Von Trapp, left to raise seven children on his own after the death of his wife. Maria falls in love and marries him. “The musical’s first section offers a glimpse of prewar European upper-crust family life, while the second act provides a human perspective on the tumultuous events of 1930s Europe.” TM The Songs The musical introduced “a series of earworms that just won’t take no for an answer.” TM “All of the show’s major motifs can be appreciated not just as plot devices but hymns to the glory of music.” TM “The Sound of Music” They include standards such as the title song, which “has a majestic and graceful sweep – it’s exactly the series of notes you’d expect to burst forth from nature as some idealistic young heroine passes by.” TM “My Favorite Things” “To appreciate just how strong Sound of Music’s individual songs are, seek out a few of the many interpretations that followed in the show’s wake.” TM Fore example, My Favorite Things became both a Christmas and jazz standard, such as with John “Coltrane and his group reinventing the song, while exhibiting a deep reverence for the musical invention.” TM “Do-Re-Mi” Do-Re-Mi has become a favorite sing-a-long for children to “effortelessly learn the notes of the major scale.” TM It was also the center of one of the earliest flash mob viral videos. The Cast Album The cast album went to #1 and sold more than 2 million copies in the United States, but “has been so overshadowed by the spectacularly popular film soundtrack album that it’s difficult to judge it on its own merits.” CA The original stage cast featured a 45-year-old Mary Martin playing the 21-year-old Maria. Despite the age discrepancy, She “seems perfectly matched to the material, yet her interpretation of the character differs greatly from that offered by Julie Andrews” CA in the 1965 movie version. “Martin is more wistful, delivering the title song with a deeper, plaintive quality.” CA Theodore Bikel is a strong presence as Captain Von Trapp. Kurt Kasznar and Marion Marlowe as Max Detweiler and Elsa Schraeder are also standouts; they perform How Can Love Survive? and No Way to Stop It delightfully. The children, including Lauri Peters as Liesl, exude warmth. From a technical and musical standpoint, this Sound of Music album is highly commendable, and as a record of the final Rodgers and Hammerstein score, it’s a must for serious collectors of transcendent musical theater.” CA As conducted by Frederick Dvonch, the score in general has a more legit tone here than it does on the soundtrack recording, and Patricia Neway brings full operatic beauty and power to the role of the Mother Abbess.” CA The Movie and Soundtrack The movie version of The Sound of Music came six years after the original stage musical. It became the highest-grossing movie of all-time up to that point and won the Oscar for Best Picture. The soundtrack was a #1 in the United States and United Kingdom, spending a whopping 70 weeks at the pinnacle in the UK. It also sold more than 22 million copies worldwide, making it one of the top 100 best-sellers of all time. “One of the principal reasons for the enduring appeal…is the fresh approach given to the material.” CA The star, Julie Andrews, had starred in the musical My Fair Lady and was fresh from an Academy Award for her title role in Mary Poppins, another story about a children’s nanny. She “brings wit, spirit, and buoyancy to the role of Maria. Perfectly sung and brilliantly acted, Andrews’ great performance is also notable for her clear but unaffected diction, and she knows exactly which lines to sing, which ones to exclaim.” CA “The songs of the Captain and the Mother Abbess are very well sung by Bill Lee and Margery McKay, respectively, dubbing for Christopher Plummer and Peggy Wood. McKay’s rendition of ‘Climb Every Mountain’ is notably stirring. Charmian Carr does her own singing as Liesl; she’s charming in Sixteen Going on Seventeen with Dan Truhitte as Rolf, and in all of her tracks with the children…The arrangements and orchestrations of the film’s music overall are bright, uplifting, and thoroughly delightful from beginning to end.” CA

Resources and Related Links: AM-C AllMusic.com review of cast album by William Ruhlmann AM-S AllMusic.com review of soundtrack by William Ruhlmann CA CastAlbumReviews.com by Gerard Alessandrini ET EncoreTickets.co.uk TM Tom Moon (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, NY. Pages 653-4. TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 58. Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 11/13/2011; last updated 8/15/2024.