Joe Morello

Joe Morello
Morello in a 1960 advertisement
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Albert Morello
Born	(1928-07-17)July 17, 1928 Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	March 12, 2011(2011-03-12) (aged 82) Irvington, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Jazz cool jazz third stream
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums
Years active	1954–2011
Labels	Columbia
Formerly of	The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Joseph Albert Morello (July 17, 1928^[1] – March 12, 2011)^[2] was an American jazz drummer best known for serving as the drummer for pianist Dave Brubeck, as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1957 to 1972, including during the quartet's "classic lineup" from 1958 to 1968, which also included alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and bassist Eugene Wright. Morello's facility for playing unusual time signatures and rhythms enabled that group to record a series of albums that explored them. The most notable of these was the first in the series, the 1959 album Time Out, which contained the hit songs "Take Five" and "Blue Rondo à la Turk". In fact, "Take Five", the album's biggest hit (and the first jazz single to sell more than one million copies) was specifically written by Desmond as a way to showcase Morello's ability to play in ⁵
₄ time.^[3]

Besides playing with Brubeck, Morello also served as an accompanist for other musicians, including Marian McPartland, Tal Farlow and Gary Burton, and recorded his own albums as well. He received numerous accolades during his life, including being named the best drummer by Down Beat magazine five years in a row.