The Dave Brubeck Quartet's 1959 album Time Out was built on time signatures alien to American pop and became the first jazz album to sell a million copies. This episode traces its origin to a State Department tour of Eurasia, where Brubeck heard Turkish street musicians playing in 9/8, subdivided as 2+2+2+3, and decided to graft that mesmerizing limp onto the language of American jazz improvisation.

The conversation covers Columbia president Goddard Lieberson's demand for a safe album, Gone with the Wind, as insurance, the surprising reception of both records, and Paul Desmond's admission that Take Five was written as a showcase for drummer Joe Morello rather than a hit. It walks through Blue Rondo a la Turk, Strange Meadowlark, Three to Get Ready, Kathy's Waltz and its possible link to the Beatles' All My Loving, the album's climb to numbe ...