Joe Morello - It's About Time

Drummer Joe Morello's first album under his own name carries the fitting title It's About Time (RCA Victor, 1962). Morello of course held the drum chair in the Dave Brubeck Quartet from 1956 to '67 and this LP was released just after Brubeck reached the peak of his popularity with the hit single Take Five.

Brubeck's group was known for playing in somewhat unorthodox time signatures and there's some of that on Morello's LP as well. But this sextet effort (there's a big band on a few cuts) seems looser than a lot of Brubeck's output of the period. Alto saxophonist Phil Woods, who sounds a bit like the Brubeck quartet's Paul Desmond on some cuts, and Gary Burton on vibes get much of the solo space. Also on the date are pianist John Bunch and bassist Gene Cherco.

Here's a sample track.

Time After Time



Most of the cuts on It's About Time turned up in 1989 on an RCA/Bluebird CD titled simply Joe Morello.

It's long out of print and commanding prices of $40 to $100 and up on Amazon and eBay. I did see one reasonably priced copy on Groove Collector, a long-established European site.

There doesn't seem to be a legal download version of the It's About Time tracks, so here's another sample.