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Paul Desmond
Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a "dry martini." It was a sound that made him a favourite with critics and fans alike, and won him jazz poll after jazz poll. "I have won several prizes as the world's slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness." He was a modest, retiring man, known to his friends for his wit and charm. Twenty years after his death from cancer, his music still sells, is still played, and still moves people.
To me his lyricism has never been equalled, as far as logic and lyricism combined, because there's always a strand going back some place in his melodies, and in his choruses that shows a great intellect combined with a great emotionalism, and usually you don't find the two things in one person. —Dave Brubeck
Born in San Francisco in 1924, Desmond was one of the leading proponents of the West Coast "cool" style. Influenced by Lester Young and Pete Brown he originally played clarinet in the big bands of Jack Fina and Alvino Rey. But it was his simpatico partnership with the formally-trained pianist Dave Brubeck that rocketed him to fame on the concert stages of the world. Desmond's melodic solos were in marked contrast to the polytonal rhythms of Brubeck, but somehow they clicked and drove each other to greatness. After meeting and playing together in the late 40s, they formed the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951 and never looked back.
For the critics it was a strange musical relationship. Some found Brubeck's playing heavy-handed. In one Down Beat review he was described as "oftimes loud and pounding and seemingly at a loss for melodic ideas." Desmond meanwhile was gaining a reputation for his "original, intensely personal style." Famed critic Nat Hentoff called him "one of the most creative figures in modern jazz." No wonder that articles started appearing questioning the basis of the Desmond-Brubeck collaboration. In 1953, Down Beat proclaimed, "It is again a case where the sideman (in this instance Desmond) seems to be quite superior to the leader as a jazzman." But through their years together Desmond remained remarkably loyal to his partner, "There's certainly nobody else with whom I would have stuck around this long." Perhaps it was their uncanny ability to play counterpoint that endeared them to their fans and to each other. Theirs was a musical rapport that Desmond described as "kind of scary."
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The Dave Brubeck Quartet: The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Live From The Northwest, 1959
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by Mike Jurkovic
Like Elemental Music's previously unheard Bill Evans' set, Tales: Live in Copenhagen (1964), The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Live From The Northwest, 1959 may not hold the historical weight of other posthumous Brubeck releases, but it certainly displays the effortless virtuosity and invention the quartet brought to every gig, large or small, far and wide and in-between. Just months before Brubeck, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello would set the music world alight with Time Out (Columbia, 1959), Wally ...
read moreThe Dave Brubeck Quartet: The Dave Brubeck Quartet Live from the Northwest,1959
![Read "The Dave Brubeck Quartet Live from the Northwest,1959" reviewed by Pierre Giroux](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/bc32c895a61316abc969388891eeb2a7.jpg)
by Pierre Giroux
The Dave Brubeck Quartet Live from the Northwest,1959 was recorded in a moment of jazz history that showcased the quartet's exceptional musical prowess and Dave Brubeck's innovative approach to jazz composition. The album offers a vibrant snapshot of the group's improvisational energy and collective synergy exemplified by the four incomparable musicians, which, in addition to Brubeck, were Paul Desmond alto saxophone, Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello drums. This seven-track concert was recorded over two ...
read moreDave Brubeck Quartet: Debut In The Netherlands 1958: The Lost Recordings
![Read "Debut In The Netherlands 1958: The Lost Recordings" reviewed by Chris May](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/4e981c401d0df1e1fe16e05a1de2c743.jpg)
by Chris May
For some people, the Dave Brubeck Quartet's catalogue starts with 1959's Time Out (Columbia) and ends with Time Further Out (Columbia) two years later. Verily, they know not what they are missing. The band was burning from 1951, when Brubeck and alto saxophonist Paul Desmond founded it, until 1967 and the breakup of the classic" lineup. That lineup comprised Brubeck, Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, who joined in early 1958, and drummer Joe Morello, who joined in late 1956, and it ...
read moreDave Brubeck Quartet: Jazz at the College of the Pacific
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by Keith Hatschek
December 14th 2021 marked the 58th anniversary of the concert by the Dave Brubeck Quartet held at College of the Pacific and immortalized on the album Jazz at College of the Pacific (Fantasy, 1954). Nat Hentoff praised the recording at the time of its release as, Five stars... ranks with the Oberlin and Storyville sets as the best of Brubeck on record."Time has done little to diminish the impact of this monumental live recording. The six selections showcase ...
read moreDave Brubeck: Time OutTakes
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by Stefano Merighi
Time OutTakes è il frutto della scoperta dell'insieme dei nastri giacenti nei vaults della Columbia, riguardanti il celebre album di Dave Brubeck, edito nel 1959. Come spesso accade per questo genere di operazioni, il supplemento di materiale che esce fuori dallo scavo coincide con versioni alternative dei medesimi brani della collezione definitiva (outtakes), ma anche con pezzi scartati dalla produzione--due in questo caso--oppure con la scoperta che in certi casi è bastata una sola take" per essere soddisfatti ...
read morePaul Desmond: The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings
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by C. Andrew Hovan
Even if he had never played another note following the break-up of the Dave Brubeck group in 1967, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond would have entered the history books as one of music's most brilliant improvisers. During his 17 years with Brubeck, Desmond proved himself to be an indispensable part of that quartet with a wistful and witty sound that he himself described as akin to a dry martini." Fortunately, Desmond continued to add to his legacy starting in ...
read moreThe Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time OutTakes
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by Mike Jurkovic
When, for the first and the millionth time Paul McCartney is queried by lazy savants and crazed fans about what he would have cut from epic double White Album (Apple, 1968) to make it the strongest of the strongest single disc ever, the cutely weathered one just replies It's the Beatles' bleedin' White Album, man" and the discussion, at least for that moment, is done. The fans and essayists will go on and on and on while he pursues other ...
read moreA Tribute to Paul Desmond and Jim Hall
![A Tribute to Paul Desmond and Jim Hall](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Between 1959 and 1965, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and guitarist Jim Hall (both above) recorded six quartet albums together that are still among jazz's most elegant small-group recordings. These albums are First Place Again (recorded in 1959), Easy Living (1963-'65), Take Ten (1963), Glad to Be Unhappy (1964), Bossa Antigua (1964) and Desmond Blue (1962), which featured Desmond and Hall framed by a larger group. Their first album was on Warner Bros., produced by Bob Prince, and the rest were ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
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Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today!
Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a dry martini." It was a sound ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today!
Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a dry martini." It was a sound ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today!
Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a dry martini." It was a sound ...
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Paul Desmond & His Canadians, The Complete Set At Last
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Mosaic Records reports that the first release of Paul Desmond–The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings has sold out. The seven-CD set features the former Dave Brueck Quartet alto saxophonist with his prized Canadian rhythm section of guitarist Ed Bickert, bassist Don Thompson and drummer Jerry Fuller. Mosaic’s Michael Cuscuna says that he expects the next batch of pressings to be available by the end of May. When after 17 years together the Brubeck Quartet disbanded, Desmond vacationed in the Caribbean, then ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today!
Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a dry martini... Read more.
Place our ...
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More From The Late Ed Bickert With Paul Desmond
![More From The Late Ed Bickert With Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/f17f45296ca0779a8e73c322bb78778f.jpg)
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Following yesterday’s announcement about the loss of the brilliant Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert, here is a piece from the 1975 Paul Desmond Quartet album Live, recorded at Bourbon Street in Toronto in 1975. We hear Bickert and Desmond with bassist Don Thompson and drummer Jerry Fuller. They play Desmond’s composition “Wendy." Desmond based “Wendy” on the chord structure of one of his favorite ballads, “For All We Know.” He named the piece for a woman who was a romantic interest. ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today!
Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a dry martini... Read more.
Place our ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today!
Paul Desmond was revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a dry martini... Read more.
Place our ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Paul Desmond](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/Paul-Desmond-200-2017.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Paul Desmond's birthday today! He is revered for the pure, gentle tone of his alto saxophone, and the elegant lyricism of his improvisations. For seventeen years he was the lead soloist in the most commercially successful jazz combo ever, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In an era that worshipped the frenetic, bebop style of Charlie Parker, Paul Desmond found his own sound, a tone that he claimed imitated a dry martini... Read more. Place our Musician ...
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