Music and Lyrics

Abstract

Although Time Out is a purely instrumental album, several of its cuts either originated as songs or later were supplied with words. Two singers—Claude Nougaro in the 1960s and Al Jarreau in the 1970s and 1980s—rose to fame largely on the basis of their vocal renditions of tunes from Time Out. This chapter examines the interplay between music and lyrics in the origins and history of these numbers. It begins with examination of the interdependence of “Everybody’s Jumpin’ ” and “Everybody’s Comin’ ” (the latter a song from The Real Ambassadors). The vocal versions of “Strange Meadow Lark” and “Take Five,” with lyrics by Dave and Iola Brubeck, and their recordings by Carmen McRae, are considered next. The chapter concludes with discussion of Nougaro’s “À bout de souffle” and “Le jazz et la java,” and Jarreau’s “(Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo à la Turk” and “Take Five.”