Benson makes Take Five his own! As drummer Steve Gadd and bassist Ron Carter hold down an unshakeable groove, funky Benson just flies on guitar! Also listen to the amazing rhythm guitar of Phil Upchurch and the keyboard solo by Kenny Barron. OnĪn NPR podcast, I heard Benson go gaga over Montgomery’s uncanny knack of interpreting any melody as his own, “if he decided to play it, you were gonna hear something unbeatable.” Being a big fan of Montgomery, I checked out Benson and ran into this little gem from the albumīad Benson released in 1974. I got into George Benson via Wes Montgomery. Carmen sings Monk was recorded in 1988 when McRae was 66, but here is a younger McRae, delivering the same treatment to Take Five with the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1961! George Benson on guitar ![]() Monk’s songs are mostly instrumental and have their own unique appeal, but McRae sings them so well, it is hard not to remember her lyrics and voice when you go back and hear Monk afterwards. I first heard Carmen McRae in an album called Carmen sings Monk where she lends lyrics and her ironic voice to the signature, unorthodox compositions of the jazz pianist, Thelonious Monk. So here are my favourite five takes on Take Five. The original melody endures all transformations and interpretations, and yet the covers stand as bona fide works of music too. Over a period of time, I have run into several fascinating covers of Take Five. Being such a popular song, Take Five has been covered several times, with over 40 recorded cover versions, according to Wikipedia. The story of Take Five, I would like to share some interesting alternative takes of the song. In any case, whether you have heard it before or not, whether you are a jazz fan or not, please do me a favour. In fact, it is quite likely that you know the song, even if you have never sought to listen to jazz on your own. Yes, technically, it is in a five beat cycle, but it is delightful and so accessible. The Originalīack at my college campus, I learned that “Take Five” was a song from the albumĪnd I listened to it. But all that time I also had an additional distraction in the form of a burning curiosity to know what “Take Five” was. Gurtu caught it, and demanded immediately, “Take Five? Kaun bolaa bey? (Which wise guy said that?)” Since no one seemed to come forward, Gurtu waited and then said, “Isn’t your life difficult enough? Why do you want 5/4? Just take four.” Needless to say, it was tough to keep time with him even as he played in 4/4. ![]() Someone shouted out an indistinct song name. Standard 4/4 rhythm and then admonishing us for our inability to keep time with him when he improvised in aħ beat rhythm, Gurtu asked the audience what they would like to hear next. It was the late 90s when as a college student I had gone to Planet M at Powai, to attend a lecture cum demonstration byĪfter enthralling the audience with a few snippets in the Trilok Gurtu, the legendary fusion musician and percussionist, that I first heard about the song Listening to Take Five for the umpteenth time!
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