Here we have a 1961 performace of ‘Take Five’, the most notable hit single from The Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Not only is it my favorite candy bar in the world, its by far the most recognizeable jazz song for just about any set of ears. You’ve heard it in countless films, commercials and TV shows.

Wikipedia notes that Take Five was released on The Dave Brubeck quartet’s 1959 album Time Out. Composed by Paul Desmond, the group’s saxophonist, it became famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody and use of quintuple time, from which the piece gets its name. While “Take Five” was not the first jazz composition to use this meter, it was the first of any mainstream significance, becoming a hit on the radio at a time when rock music was in fashion. “Take Five” is also known for the solo by noted jazz drummer Joe Morello.

I think its one of the few jazz songs I can think of that has a 45 pressing used for jukeboxes.

Regarding the show, Jazz Casual, For National Educational Television (now known as PBS), a gentleman named Ralph Gleason produced a series of twenty-eight programs on jazz and blues that featured B.B. King, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Sonny Rollins, among others. The series ran from 1961 to 1968. He also produced a two-hour documentary on Duke Ellington, which was twice nominated for an Emmy. Other films for television included a four-part series on the Monterey Jazz Festival, the first documentary for television on pop music, Anatomy of a Hit, and a two-hour performance and documentary on San Francisco rock, Go Ride the Music and A Night At The Family Dog.