When you look at the history of jazz drumming, there are many towering figures with names like Williams, DeJohnette, (Jo) Jones, (Philly Joe) Jones, (Elvin) Jones … and a guy from Springfield, Massachusetts names Joe Morello. Morello was a gifted drummer who had a great sense of time and adding appropriate color. His longest gig was with Marian McPartland’s band …
But he is best known as the drummer laying down the tight beats on Dave Brubeck’s Time Out recording. The song Take Five was generally used as a solo vehicle for Morello in live performances, such as the Carnegie Hall concerts. Morello was with Brubeck for 12 years, and after that group retired to teaching and writing instructional books. He died on Saturday March 12th at 82, and with his death we lose another epic figure of 20th century music.
Let’s go out with a 1961 live recording of Take Five. Rest in peace Mr. Morello … you certainly deserve it for your great contributions to modern music.