https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAlVasHbipo
You might remember Dave Brubeck from the saxophonic Take Five, which was the soundtrack to television adverts, everywhere, in the 1980s. That tune (effortlessly breathed by the brilliant Paul Desmond) was also my first introduction to the wonder of a 5/4 time signature. Classic.
And boy did Dave love messing around with time signatures. I can tell why Tim sent this to me: the time sigs change faster than I can count them, and Tim loves that kind of thing. If a sort of 9/8 swing time is your bag, then this is so far up your street that it's made itself at home and curled itself up on your porch like a quirky 1950s cat enjoying the sunshine.
It's not just time signatures though with the Blue Rondo. There's the tension and relief of disharmony, the rhythmic sections, the sudden swerve into classically executed swing-time and the frenzied conversations between the instruments. The piano asks a complicated question, the sax provides the answer. You'd be forgiven for thinking that this is a bunch of musicians showing off at the jazz club - it's so much more than that though - you get the feeling that they don't really need to; that they're just enjoying themselves.
And that's what music should be like, however good you are at switching out of a 4/4 double-bass-led swing-time rhythm into a triplety flurry of irregular quavers. You've got to enjoy it, and these guys definitely do.
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