"The loss of my friend Joe Morello came as a complete shock to me. (...) Joe was a pioneer in odd-time signatures and a vital part of the "time" series the Brubeck Quartet made at Columbia Records. His drum solo on Take Five is still being heard around the world. Drummers world-wide remember Joe as one of the greatest drummers we have known."

Joe Morello was born in Springfield, Massachusets in 1928. With impaired vision from birth, he studied the violin before switching to drums in high school. Eventually Joe found his way to New York City, where he played with many leading jazz musicians including pianist Marian McPartland.

Joe Morello joined Dave Brubeck's quartet in the mid-1950s, turning down offers from Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey.

Soon after Joe Morello became prominent for exploring then-unusual time signatures such as 5/4 rhythmic meter. Take Dave Brubeck's Take Five, featured on the 1959 album 'Time Out' for example: Unaccompanied, Joe starts off and sets the tone with his swirling yet locked-in intro. His drum solo in that same song has become a 'must-known' classic:

The Brubeck quartet disbanded in 1967. Since then Joe Morello had kept a lower performance profile but had been a very active teacher, sought out by many prominent professionals invcluding Danny Gottlieb, Jerry Granelli and Max Weinberg.

Joe’s amazing execution, thorough, proven methods – based on the teachings of George Lawrence Stone, Sanford Moeller, and Billy Gladstone – and engaging personality made him a font of knowledge and a joy to study with.

Joe Morello leaves a discography that includes more than 120 albums. His legacy also includes several drum books, such as Master Studies, published by Modern Drummer Publications, and an instructional video for Hot Licks titled The Natural Approach to Technique.