Brubeck and Desmond: the "Take Five" Bequest

Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond,
October 8, 1954

Dave Brubeck's most memorable hit was"Take Five." Taylor Ho Bynum reminds us that the tune became a significant charitable bequest.

...like the partnership between Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, [the collaboration between Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond] was a relationship of matched brilliance. And like Ellington’s “Take the A Train,” actually penned by Strayhorn, Brubeck’s signature tune “Take Five” was composed by Desmond.

In the month post-Sandy, we should also remember that when Desmond died, in 1977, he bequeathed the royalties to “Take Five” to the American Red Cross, bringing the organization close to six million dollars. With that composition sure to receive a flurry of performances after Brubeck’s death, it will likely bring in tens of thousands of dollars more to disaster relief at a time when it is sorely needed.