In Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, I told of having heard Desmond’s “Take Five” on a music box in a Prague gift shop and in a number of other unlikely places including the Mexico City subway and my neighborhood gas station.
There are sheet music arrangements of “Take Five” for solo piano, brass band, chorus, accordian, guitar, flute choir, string orchestra, drum and percussion and–I swear–hand bells.
To the list of unusual performances of “Take Five” you may now add the 12 Girls Band live at Budokan. The short solo beginning a minute and four seconds into the performance seems truly improvised. As I watched this, I imagined Desmond’s grin if he could see it.
Thanks to Iola Brubeck for pointing out this treasure.







Recent Comments
Brew on Recent Listening: The Tierney Sutton Band
Tierney Sutton is one of the most talented jazz vocalists on the planet; a true musician's singer with good taste. It's very brave of her,...Carlita Kaunda on Meredith d’Ambrosio: A Plug—And A Protest
Yes, and likewise those cowards who use the internet to make foolish and erroneous statements at various blogsites but are too cowardly to allow comments...Brew on Meredith d’Ambrosio: A Plug—And A Protest
Honestly, I don't give a damn about that kind of "review", written by anonymous cowards who wouldn't be able to utter their unfair criticism face-to-face...Doug Moody on Meredith d’Ambrosio: A Plug—And A Protest
Not sure what recording Lamont Cranston could have been listening to but to my ears "By Myself" is simply superb. I've been a fan...Jim Brown on The Oak Room Farewell
History continues to repeat itself, this time in the form of middle management insensitivity. Something like twenty years ago, a local acoustic consulting firm...