This was written by Paul Desmond, a jazz alto saxophone player from San Francisco. He composed 'Take Five' for the Dave Brubeck Quartet. This band was founded in 1951 and for many years was based in the Blackhawk Night club in San Francisco.
'Take Five' was recorded in the summer of 1959 in Columbia Studios in New York, along with other songs from the quartet's album Time Out.

'Take Five' was very unusual at the time, as it didn't use the classic 4/4 jazz time but was influenced by the rhythms that Desmond and Burbeck had noticed in Turkish street musicians. It quickly became the most popular song on the album and one of the best loved jazz compositions of all time. It has been used in a number of film soundtracks including Pleasantville and Constantine, and there have been several cover versions.

You can hear the original version here (you may have to sit through some ads first).