Take Five

After a gruelling day filled with innumerable 'closing meetings' with the client (closing meetings are defined as interactions with a person or people who make you want to repeatedly bang your head against a wall while yelling AAARGH), my manager turned to me and said "Well, I'm sure you want to change your report now". I did.

And so I found myself, once again, sitting alone in _._._.Hell working on a report that I did not really want to be associated with. I needed something to take the edge off the day. Conversations with innocent people were out of the question, I was far too irritable after a long day of "But I already gave you this na". As always music came to my rescue.

As luck would have it, the first track to play was Take Five. I don't know what it is about this track, but I love it. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. Maybe it's how it starts... First the drums, and then the piano gently spelling the beat... And then the sax joins in with the melody... And voila by the time we've hit the tenth note, my mood has transformed from one of hatred towards _._._.Hell and all its denizens to that of tolerance, at the very least.

Take Five was the first jazz piece my piano teacher taught me. After months of Mozart and Beethoven, keeping strict time and emphasising precisely those notes, this was the first piece that allowed me to play around. I loved the way you could change the way music sounded just by changing the speed and emphasis.

Of course the version I play is extremely basic. I know it annoyed my piano teacher that I loved it so much, he thought I could do much better, musically speaking. But to this day, 6 years after I stopped going to him for lessons, Take Five is one of the few pieces I still play on my extremely out-of-tune piano. It's the first piece I pick out on pianos in music shops. It's the only piece I will agree to play in public.

Take Five has a lot of sentimental attachment. Not least is that one night, while wandering down a street in a 'happy' condition I spotted Brubeck's Cafe. I HAD to go in. And go in I did. The place was pretty empty, but they had a live band. I couldn't resist. I asked the band if they would play Take Five, in Brubeck's Cafe. They did. I was thrilled to little bits.

And so I decided to name my blog Take Five. Some of my happiest memories are associated with this piece. Judging by the fact that I dedicated an entire post to it, I'm sure many more memories will be associated with it in the future.