Paul Desmond

American jazz saxophonist and composer

• Born: November 25, 1924
• Birthplace: San Francisco, California
• Died: May 30, 1977
• Place of death: New York, New York

As the frantic tempi and technical virtuosity of bebop faded, Desmond emerged as a leading proponent of the new era of cool jazz. Paired with the flamboyant Dave Brubeck, Desmond produced an intimate, warm tone and innovative improvisations.

The Life

Born Paul Emil Breitenfeld in San Francisco, Paul Desmond legally changed his name in 1946 after supposedly choosing Desmond out of a phone book. His father, an organist, accompanied silent films in theaters. His mother suffered from severe emotional problems. As a result, Desmond spent part of his childhood with relatives in New York. Desmond attended Polytechnic High School in San Francisco, and he began playing the clarinet during his freshman year at San Francisco State College. During World War II, Desmond enlisted in the Army in 1943 to play in the band as a saxophonist. He was stationed in San Francisco, where he was introduced to pianist Dave Brubeck. They went their separate ways following their discharge from the Army, but they reunited in 1951 in forming the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The quartet experienced a few personnel changes on bass and drums before finally settling on bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. “Take Five,” from the 1959 landmark album Time Out, introduced unusual time signatures to the jazz world. After the quartet disbanded in 1967, Desmond continued to perform as a freelance saxophonist.

Residing in a New York penthouse, Desmond lived comfortably among friends, writers, and fellow musicians. His royalty earnings from “Take Five” alone allowed him to indulge his fondness for Scotch and cigarettes. Eventually, he was weakened to the point that his once-notorious ability to sustain a long phrase on a single breath became impossible. His final concert with Brubeck, in February, 1977, was witnessed by a full house of appreciative fans. However, Desmond was physically unable to perform an encore. Having developed lung cancer from a lifetime of heavy smoking, he died in New York on May 30, 1977.

The Music

The hot jazz of the 1920’s, the danceable swing tempi of the 1930’s, and the blistering tempi and complex harmonies of the bebop era set the stage for a decidedly different approach to jazz known as cool jazz. The cool jazz period of the late 1940’s and 1950’s utilized subdued volume, understated textures, improvisational economy, avoidance of dissonance, and little or no vibrato.

On Desmond’s first encounter with Brubeck, the saxophonist took note of Brubeck’s unusual, almost avant-garde style of piano playing, individualistic for the time. Their paths crossed again after World War II, when Desmond was a civilian and Brubeck was playing at the Geary Cellar with the Darryl Cutler trio. Desmond hired Brubeck and bassist Norman Bates from the trio to form his own jazz group. The role of leader did not appeal to Desmond, however, so he enrolled in San Francisco State College to become a writer. In the late 1940’s, he joined Brubeck’s octet.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet. In 1950 Desmond went on tour with the Jack Fina band, ending the tour in New York. Just one year later, Desmond was back in San Francisco to become a member of the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet. A series of recorded concerts followed at universities. Jazz at Oberlin and Jazz at the College of the Pacific led to a recording contract with Columbia Records. Appropriately, the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s first recording was Jazz Goes to College in 1954. Critics and fans took notice of Desmond’s elegant tone and remarkable lyricism in improvised solos. Critics described Desmond’s tone as a “dry martini.”

The addition of drummer Morello in 1956 and bassist Wright in 1958 solidified the quartet’s personnel until 1967, when the group disbanded. Morello’s competence with unusual time signatures allowed the quartet to experiment with the 5/4 time signature.

“Take Five.” “Take Five,” the group’s signature composition on the 1959 album Time Out, sold more than one million copies. Brubeck’s thick chord voicings and Desmond’s light, airy tone complemented each other effectively. Completely at ease together, Brubeck and Desmond quoted popular songs in their musical interplay, and they could change moods simultaneously. In a sense, they engaged in musical conversations. The quartet toured the world, performing three hundred concerts a year and recording numerous albums.

After the Quartet. The breakup of the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1967 gave Desmond a second chance at becoming a writer. He abandoned his saxophone for about three years, and he completed his memoirs about his time with the quartet with an essay titled How Many of You Are There in the Quartet?—a question purportedly asked by an airline flight attendant. The memoirs were never released as a book, but a chapter was published in the British magazine Punch.

In semiretirement, Desmond performed concerts with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, guitarists Jim Hall and Ed Bickert, and with the Modern Jazz Quartet. A silver anniversary reunion tour with the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1976 hastened the end of his career. In 1977 Desmond performed a farewell concert with Brubeck at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Musical Legacy

Desmond personified cool jazz with his lyrical and wispy tone quality. Although more introspective than extroverted, he interacted with other musicians on a personal level with a wit and charm that also reached audiences. His audiences rewarded him by voting him to the top of the jazz polls year after year. The success and musical worth of the Dave Brubeck Quartet will be forever linked to Desmond’s distinctive sound and style.

Part of Desmond’s estate was bequeathed to the American Red Cross, and after his death the proceeds from his recording royalties were donated to the American Red Cross. The Paul Desmond papers are housed in the Holt-Atherton Special Collections at the University of the Pacific, the site of an early Dave Brubeck Quartet concert.

Principal Recordings

albums:Quartet, 1952 (with Gerry Mulligan); The Paul Desmond Quartet with Don Elliott, 1956; Blues in Time, 1957 (with Mulligan); First Place Again, 1959 (with Jim Hall); Paul Desmond and Friends, 1959; Desmond Blue, 1961 (with Hall); Late Lament, 1962; Two of a Mind, 1962 (with Mulligan); Glad to Be Unhappy, 1963; Take Ten, 1963 (with Hall); Bossa Antigua, 1964; Easy Living, 1966; Summertime, 1968; Bridge over Troubled Water, 1969; From the Hot Afternoon, 1969; Skylark, 1973; The Duets, 1975 (with Dave Brubeck); Like Someone in Love, 1975; Pure Desmond, 1975; The Only Recorded Performance, 1982 (with the Modern Jazz Quartet).

Bibliography

Feather, Leonard. The New Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1999. Short biographical entries of more than three thousand jazz musicians and their discographies include one devoted to Desmond.

Hall, Fred M. It’s About Time: The Dave Brubeck Story. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1996. This covers Desmond’s life and career with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and it includes discussions of experimentation with polytonality and unusual time signatures.

McPartland, Marion. All in Good Time. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1987. One of the few women to succeed in jazz performance, McPartland writes about her experiences with various jazz musicians, including Desmond.

Ramsey, Doug. Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. Seattle, Wash.: Parkside, 2005. This biography was written by a jazz musician who was a friend of Desmond, and it includes commentary from other jazz musicians, two hundred photographs, and transcriptions of his improvised solos.

Tirro, Frank. Living with Jazz. Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt Brace, 1996. A jazz history textbook, with a focus on developing an appreciation for jazz, makes references to Desmond.