History of Music

Cool Jazz

A Brief History of Cool Jazz

December 6, 2012, would have marked the ninety-second birthday of pianist Dave Brubeck. The nonagenarian was looking forward to performing at the Palace Theater near his home in Waterbury, Connecticut. Sadly, Brubeck died of heart failure just one day shy of the celebratory concert. The concert went on as scheduled, but it was a memorial rather than a birthday party. It is what Brubeck would have wanted. Brubeck was one of the originators of a jazz style that became known as "cool jazz." He was a brilliant pianist who loved to experiment with rhythms and instrumentation in ensemble work. Brubeck never stopped innovating over his long career during which he composed symphonies, classical and religious music, ballets and film scores He valued musical integrity over commercial reward. "You never know what's going to work," he said. "You just go with what you believe in, whether it's a success or not" (Jones 2012).

Jazz emerged as a uniquely American music form. Jazz has been defined as music "rooted in improvisation and characterized by syncopated rhythm" (Kamien 407). Fats Waller supposedly said of jazz, "If you have to ask [what it is] you'll never know" (Schoeberg 1). It may be hard to define but it is instantly recognizable as a musical form. The jazz we know today -- particularly the cool jazz exemplified by Dave Brubeck -- would not be possible without the musical ideas that flowed at the end of the nineteenth century. By the mid-1890s, three new kinds of music caught the public's attention -- ragtime, blues, and the sacred music of the black churches. Without these musical forms, there would have been no jazz. Ragtime was the formal outgrowth of an improvisational style enjoyed by African-American musicians. "Ragging" a tune meant syncopating it and rearranging it to create a livelier, more danceable version (Burns 11). No one knows exactly when or where "the blues" originated and, in the beginning, there was no strict musical form. Soon musicians from New Orleans began to play blues on their instruments and musicians from other parts of the country followed. Commercial possibilities soon became apparent. The blues had a great deal in common with the hymns black Baptists played in their churches. "The distinction would blur still further as the new Holiness churches that had begun to spring up in the black neighborhoods of big cities all over the country started employing tambourines, drums, pianos, corners, and even trombones in order to make their noise still more joyful unto the Lord" (Ward and Burns 16).

In the first decade of the twentieth century, pianist Jelly Roll Morton and cornetist King Oliver, among others, established themselves as key figures in the emerging world of jazz. During the teens, blues and ragtime continued to evolve, helped along, in large measure, by the trumpeter Louis Armstrong, an immensely likeable young man considered a genius even today, one who "sent off enough sparks through the '20s to energize an entire generation of musicians" (Schoenberg 11-12). Jazz spread from is birthplace in New Orleans to Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis. These cities, particularly New Orleans, are still famous today for their jazz clubs. New Orleans remains a popular tourist destination because of its rich musical history and the enduring popularity of jazz. Jazz was heard on the radio, in clubs and theaters, and on recordings. As legions of jazz fans grew, of the music gave rise to a great number of jazz bands.

"Jazz found its ultimate voice in the big bands" (Schoeberg 22) and their heyday lasted from the mid-1920s to the years just after the second world war. In the 20s, arranger Fletcher Henderson set the standard, with Louis Armstrong's innovations serving as a springboard for creativity of other band members, including tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. A Canadian band, the Casa Loma Band, copied Henderson's style but with their own high energy, imaginative arrangements that quickly made them a favorite with audiences and paved the way for swing bands, such as that led by Benny Goodman. The swing bands effectively brought black music to the white youth of America, a fact that was played down by the American media. Swing music became wildly popular and while Benny certainly made his own contributions, he was open in his praise of the black musicians, including Henderson, who did so much for the genre. Audiences could not get enough of swing in its heyday and there were even films in which music was the star, notably The Glenn Miller Story and The Benny Goodman Story, both of which took liberties with the facts but stayed true to the music audiences wanted to hear.

Towards the end of the long run in popularity of swing bands, a new generation of musicians sought to create a fresh sound. Although they were all "musical descendants of Armstrong" (Schoenberg 30), they sought to find their own voices. Saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie formed their own quintet and brought jazz to a new level with a form that became known as bebop, or bop. Providing a contrast to Parker's frenetic style was yet another generation of musician, the trumpeter Miles Davis, an incredibly imaginative musician who became known for his spare and thoughtful phrasing. Davis was part of the birth of cool jazz. Once again, the media tried to focus on white musicians. There was still prejudice against African-Americans among the general public, particularly in the south. In the jazz world, however, practitioners such as tenorman Stan Getz, bari sax player Gerry Mulligan and trumpeter Chet Baker played side by side with the likes of Davis, Gillespie, and saxophonist Lester Young. There were no lines of color among musicians. They learned from each other and continued to push musical boundaries.

"Cool" jazz is the antithesis of bop. Whereas bop is fast paced and high energy, cool jazz is more moderate in tempo and reflective in attitude. The musicians aim for subtlety and nuance; "the overt joy of a Louis Armstrong was considered quite gross by some musicians" (Hentoff 137. As opposed to the big "fat" sound of the large swing bands, practitioners of cool jazz used the least number of instruments necessary to get the tonal colors they wanted, usually trumpet, trombone, alto and baritone saxes, French horn, tuba, piano, bass and drums (Schoenberg 55). Instead of long solos by individual artists, there was an emphasis on ensemble playing, letting all instruments shine. This is not to say that stars did not emerge and that individual instruments and instrumentalists did not characterize certain groups and certain pieces by those groups.

There is perhaps no tune that exemplifies cool jazz more than the classic "Take Five," by Dave Brubeck's quartet. Ironically, it was not Brubeck himself who was the real star in this quintessentially cool number. That distinction goes to the enigmatic, brilliant, and impossibly cool-sounding alto saxophonist, Paul Desmond.

Paul Emil Breitenfeld, later known as Paul Desmond, was born November 25, 1924, in San Francisco. His father was a local working musician, arranging music and playing organ for the Golden Gate Theater. Young Breitenfeld played violin and clarinet when he was in high school, but switched to the alto saxophone in 1943, the same year he was drafted into the U.S. Army (National Public Radio). While playing in an Army band when he was stationed at San Francisco's Presidio, Breitenfeld -- now calling himself Desmond -- met pianist Dave Brubeck. Brubeck wanted very much to join the Army band, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to do so. Perhaps it was because of his ability to play, as Desmond later described it, "fifteen different keys on an out-of-tune piano" (NPR). Desmond was nonetheless impressed with Brubeck's playing and his distinctive sound would later make both men famous as jazz innovators.

A few years later, Desmond was a student at San Francisco State University and once more encountered his old acquaintance, Dave Brubeck, who was then a student at nearby Mills College in Oakland. World War II had ended and two formed an eight-piece band that "placed heavy emphasis on European classical elements in modern jazz (NPR). Their sound failed to generate a significant following and the group disbanded. Brubeck found work with a trio at San Francisco's Geary Center. He and Desmond connected once again as Demond regularly sat in with the band. The pair drew inspiration from one another and found that in the small ensemble there were very free to improvise. Brubeck insisted the two men had "some sort of ESP" (NPR), as they often created musical counterpoint spontaneously, using call and response to the delight of audiences.

Desmond was a ballad player and coaxed a dark sound out of his horn that he likened to a "dry martini" (NPR). Brubeck urged his colleague to explore uptempo tunes such as "Perdido" and "I've Got Rhythm," which Desmond made uniquely his own.

In the late 1940s, Desmond left for New York to pursue other musical opportunities. Brubeck was furious. Brubeck recruited another sax player and his new group was soon playing to critical success. Desmond returned to San Francisco, seeking reconciliation with his former band mate and friend. Encouraged by his family, Brubeck eventually made peace with Desmond and the two went on to collaborate with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, an immensely popular jazz group that enjoyed international acclaim for the next sixteen years (NPR). In a 1952 article for Downbeat, jazz critic Nat Hentoff credited Desmond for much of the Quartet's success, calling Desmond's alto playing both rhythmic and lyrical.

Desmond was a difficult man to get to know. Friend and biographer Doug Ramsey wrote that even Desmond's ex-wife, Duane Desmond Kaye, was virtually unknown to all but his inner circle (Dryden 2005). He was a complex individual who had grown up with a musician father and a mentally disturbed mother. At a young age, he was sent across the country to live with relatives. He experimented with drugs and had many relationships with different women, though he apparently had a phobia of commitment. Speaking about the research he did for his book, Ramsey said, "In all of those interviews…I found only one person who had anything negative to say about Desmond, personally or musically. Paul had the remarkable ability to hold himself extremely close, guarding against true intimacy with all but a select few while gaining the respect and love of virtually everyone who came in contact with him (Parkside Publications 2005). Despite the fact that he and Dave Brubeck had once parted company, their friendship, when restored, remained solid. Desmond joined Brubeck for a final performance in 1977, even though he was dying of cancer.

Perhaps the piece that most defined the Quartet was "Take Five," which Desmond wrote around 1959. It was recorded for the Quartet's Time Out album, which they put together for Columbia Records during the summer months of 1959. "Take Five" quickly reached #25 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 and #5 on the magazine's Easy Listening Survey. "Take Five" was re-recorded several times during the Quartet's days of live performances, and the tune has been recorded by many other artists in the years since, including a vocal version by Carmen McRae (Wikipedia 2011). Versions by the Brubeck Quartet, with Paul Desmond supplying the melody, remains the best-known and unarguably the best version.

The Time Out album was originally intended as an experiment with time signatures, hence its name. Brubeck's group was not the first to play jazz in odd signatures, but it was the first to do so with such commercial success (Schoenberg 229). The commercial success did not happen right away, however. It took the public ear some time to adjust to the new sound. The album blended cool jazz -- intricate arrangements and a "thoroughly composed sound" (Wikipedia 2011)-- and West Coast jazz, often considered a more laid-back style of cool jazz. Cool jazz developed when a number of jazz musicians, predominantly white, moved to New York and began mixing the more frenetic, driving bop with the smooth sounds of Lester "Prez" Young. Young brought his sophisticated harmonies and honeyed tone to prominence with Count Basie's orchestra, with s style and sound that was completely different from Charlie Parker's. Young became the saxophonist most players tried to emulate, and he was an influence for Desmond, though Prez was a tenor player and Desmond's instrument was an alto. Desmond was considered one of the pioneers of West Coast jazz, along with Brubeck, baritone sax player Gerry Mulligan, trumpeter Chet Baker, and others. It was a sound that Desmond and Brubeck sought to infuse in Time Out.

"Take Five" was an experiment with the 5/4 time signature, unheard of in popular jazz at the time. The album featured other time signatures that were considered quite unusual for jazz as well. Brubeck's quartet sought a modern sound, which it achieved by employing modernist elements borrowed from contemporary European music (Ward and Burns 379). The album did not receive critical praise upon its release. In the intervening years, however, the album became a million-seller and is today considered a jazz classic. In 2005, it was one of just fifty recordings selected that year for inclusion in the National Registry of Recordings. Time Out was one of the recordings selected by an international team of critics for Dimery and Lydon's 2005 tome 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die.

What is it about Time Out, and especially "Take Five," that resonates so loudly with jazz aficionados? The tune exemplifies cool jazz. Written in the challenging key of E-flat minor, there are only two chords throughout the entire piece, E-flat minor and Bbm7. Brubeck establishes a rhythm with the two chords in the opening of the piece. It is instantly recognizable. As Desmond begins to play in the opening measures (after a smooth snare and cymbal intro), he plays in the minor key, which gives way to a lilting major-key melody, then back to minor. Throughout the piece, the music goes back and forth between minor and major, with a tune that is both complex and yet simple to remember.

Desmond's playing (YouTube 1961) is always controlled and seemingly effortless, even during his solo. Desmond once told an interviewer that he always looked for clarity in his playing and "emotional communication on a not-too-obvious level, form in a chorus that doesn't hit you over the head but is there if you look for it, humor, and construction that sounds logical in an unexpected way" (Ward and Burns 379). He stays mostly in the middle register of his horn, dipping occasionally into the lower register and soaring into the upper register near the end of his first solo. At times he speaks with just a single note. He does not employ the fast, frenetic fingering of Charlie Parker nor the showmanship of Lester Young. His performance is pure, sweet sound. Desmond reprises the melody after the other band members have taken their solos and even as he brings the tune to its conclusion, he refrains from drama, maintaining soft dynamics and fading out with vibrato on the tunes final note. His slow, ordered playing stands in marked contrast to the piano's chords.

Hentoff (1976) praised Desmond's work as "exceedingly fine" and wrote of "trance-like melodic variations in a tone of rather enticingly veiled purity" (p. 764). Desmond's work was indeed mesmerizing, controlled and minimal, even when playing a more up-tempo piece such as "Take Five." Although he did not use quotes in the 1961 "Take Five" recording, Desmond was well-known for quoting musicals, classical pieces and folk tunes in his solos. Jurek (2011) called Desmond a genius who took the alto "into melodic and harmonic worlds never before traveled by reedmen." Desmond fused together various genres of music but they were always unmistakenly cool jazz and never too far from their jazz roots.