AMG Review of Time Out/Time In

Michael G. Nastos
All Music Guide

The packaging of Dave Brubeck's two most popular (Time Further Out notwithstanding) albums, Time Out (1959) and Time In (1965), makes perfect sense. To get them both on this double CD makes it all the more attractive a purchase. In the late '50s through the early to mid-'60s, Brubeck's band with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello did very little wrong to increase the cachet of modern jazz, ramp it up a bit with their usage of different time signatures, employ a universally accessible sound, and make it all sound so cool and effortless. Though the cuts on the underappreciated Time In are not as well-known, they show the members of the Brubeck quartet progressing, challenging themselves, advancing their notions further, and refusing to compromise. Also remember that this was a time of emergence for both Bill Evans and Ornette Coleman, whose distinctly different directions also changed the face of mainstream jazz. This will be an excellent addition to the library of any listener, whether longtime fan or novice listener to the peerless Dave Brubeck.