| Cool jazz | |
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 Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1962 | |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1940s, United States |
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| Other topics | |
| West Coast jazz | |
Cool jazz is a style and genre of modernjazz music inspired bybebop andbig band[1] that arose in the United States afterWorld War II. It is characterized by relaxedtempos and a lighter tone than that used in the fast and complexbebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and incorporates elements ofclassical music. Broadly, the genre refers to a number of post-war jazz styles employing a more subdued approach than that of contemporaneous jazz idioms.[2] AsPaul Tanner, Maurice Gerow, and David Megill suggest, "the tonal sonorities of these conservative players could be compared topastel colors, while the solos of[Dizzy] Gillespie and his followers could be compared to fiery red colors."[3]
The termcool started being applied to this music around 1953, whenCapitol Records released the albumClassics in Jazz: Cool and Quiet.[4] Mark C. Gridley, writing in theAll Music Guide to Jazz, identifies four overlapping sub-categories of cool jazz:[2]
Cool jazz emerged as a reaction to bop, and is characterized by more moderate tempos and "a more reflective attitude".[5]Ted Gioia and Lee Konitz have each identifiedcornetistBix Beiderbecke and saxophonistFrankie Trumbauer as early progenitors of thecool aesthetic in jazz.[6][7] Gioia cites Beiderbecke's softening of jazz's strong rhythmic impact in favor of maintaining melodic flow, while also employing complex techniques such as unusual harmonies andwhole tone scales.[6] Trumbauer, through "his smooth and seemingly effortless saxophone work,"[6] greatly affectedtenor saxophonistLester Young, who prefigured – and influenced – cool jazz more than any other musician.[3]
Young's saxophone playing employed a light sound,[6][8]: 684–685 in contrast to the "full-bodied" approach of players such asColeman Hawkins.[3] Young also had a tendency to play behind the beat, instead of driving it.[6][8]: 684–685 He more strongly emphasized melodic development in his improvisation, rather than "hot" phrases or chord changes.[6][8]: 684–685 While Young's style initially alienated some observers, the cool school embraced it.[3][8]: 684–685 (Young would also influence bebop throughCharlie Parker's emulation of Young's playing style.)[8]: 684–685 Tanner, Gerow, and Megill point out that "cool developed gradually, as did previous styles."[3] In addition to Lester Young's approach, cool had other antecedents:
SaxophonistBenny Carter underplayed his attacks,Teddy Wilson played the piano with a delicate touch,Benny Goodman stopped using the thickvibrato ofJimmy Noone and otherclarinetists. Miles Davis's solo on Charlie Parker's "Chasin' the Bird" in 1947 andJohn Lewis's piano solo on Dizzie Gillespie's record of "'Round Midnight" in 1948 anticipated the Cool Era.[3]
Cool jazz emerged in the 1940s. Its stylistic origins can be traced to Claude Thornhill's big band, which utilized clarinets, French horns, and tubas.[9]
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In 1947,Woody Herman formed a band that included tenor saxophonistsStan Getz,Zoot Sims, andHerbie Steward, andbaritone saxophonistSerge Chaloff.[3] The result was the "Four Brothers" sound, in which four strong improvisers could still perform well as a coordinated, blended section.[3] (Jimmy Giuffre composed "Four Brothers", which highlighted this group.)[3] The Herman band's recording of "Early Autumn" launched Getz's career.[3] Meanwhile, between 1946 and 1949, baritone saxophonist and arrangerGerry Mulligan, arrangerGil Evans, and alto saxophonistLee Konitz were all working for theClaude Thornhill Orchestra, whose instrumentation included aFrench horn andtuba.[3][10]
In 1948,Miles Davis formed anonet including Mulligan, Konitz, and Evans from Thornhill's orchestra.[3][8][10]Capitol Records recorded the group (at arrangerPete Rugolo's suggestion) in 1949 and 1950.[8]: 192 These recordings, originally issued as78 rpm records, were latercompiled asBirth of the Cool (1957). Gerry Mulligan explained that the idea behind Davis's Nonet was not to get away from bebop, but "just to try to get a good little rehearsal band together. Something to write for.... As far as the 'Cool Jazz' part of it, all of that comesafter the fact of what it was designed to be."[11] As for Davis, his concern at the time was simply to play with a lighter sound, which he believed to be more expressive.[3] Also his choice of notes suggested deliberation rather than wild exuberance.[12]
The Miles Davis Nonet's existence was brief, consisting only of a two-week September 1948 engagement at the Manhattan'sRoyal Roost and the three recording dates that make upBirth of the Cool.[10] These recordings were not widely appreciated until some years later.[10] However, they prefigured the work of nonet members John Lewis and Gerry Mulligan.[10]
John Lewis went on to co-found theModern Jazz Quartet, who incorporated classical forms, such as thefugue, in their music.[3] Tanner, Gerow, and Megill note that the Quartet "played classical forms quite precisely. For example, the fugues they played were trulybaroque in form except that theexposition parts were improvised."[3] Whilethird stream music would combine classical elements with jazz, the Modern Jazz Quartet used these forms "just to play good, swinging, subtle jazz"[3] and in pursuit of "the joy of collective improvisation andcounterpoint."[10]
Gerry Mulligan, withChet Baker, formed a pianoless quartet that was both innovative and successful.[10] Later, Mulligan formed a"Tentette" that further developed the ideas he had brought to theBirth of the Cool nonet.[10]
George Shearing's quintet, which used a more subtle bebop style, also influenced cool's development.[3] BothThelonious Monk andDizzy Gillespie praised Shearing's approach.[10]
While Davis, Lewis, Mulligan, and Shearing's efforts were rooted in bebop, other musicians were less indebted to that style. In New York, pianistLennie Tristano and saxophonist Lee Konitz developed a "somewhatatonal cerebral alternative to bop which concentrated on linear improvisation and interweaving rhythmic complexities".[10] In California,Dave Brubeck hired alto saxophonistPaul Desmond, forming a quartet.[10] Both Konitz and Desmond used an approach that ran counter to bebop, in the sense that neither player employed a sound or style heavily indebted toCharlie Parker (or Parker's blues elements).[10] In a 2013 interview, Konitz noted that "the blues never connected with me," and further explained "I knew and loved Charlie Parker and copied his bebop solos like everyone else. But I didn't want to sound like him. So I used almost no vibrato and played mostly in the higher register. That's the heart of my sound."[13]
In 1951,Stan Kenton disbanded hisInnovations Orchestra in Los Angeles.[10] Many of the musicians, some of whom had also played in Woody Herman's band, chose to remain in California.[10] TrumpeterShorty Rogers and drummerShelly Manne were central figures among this group of musicians. Much of this activity centered on theHermosa BeachLighthouse Café, wherebassistHoward Rumsey led ahouse band, theLighthouse All-Stars.[10]
DrummerChico Hamilton led an ensemble that – unusually for a jazz group – included a cellist,Fred Katz.[3] Tanner, Gerow, and Megill liken Hamilton's music tochamber music, and have noted that Hamilton's "subtle rhythmic control and use of different drum pitches and timbres" was well-suited for this style of music.[3]
Tanner, Gerow, and Megill are largely dismissive of the term "West Coast jazz." As it often refers toGerry Mulligan and his associates in California, "west coast" merely becomes synonymous with "cool," althoughLester Young,Claude Thornhill, andMiles Davis were based in New York.[3] At the same time, many musicians associated with West Coast jazz "were much more involved in a hotter approach to jazz. Communication being what it is, it is hardly likely that any style of jazz was fostered exclusively in one area."[3]
In 1959,The Dave Brubeck Quartet recordedTime Out, which reached No. 2 on theBillboard "Pop Albums" chart. The cool influence stretches into such later developments asbossa nova,modal jazz (especially in the form of Davis'sKind of Blue (1959)), and evenfree jazz (in the form of Jimmy Giuffre's 1961–1962 trio).
Following their work onBirth of the Cool, Miles Davis and Gil Evans would again collaborate on albums such asMiles Ahead,Porgy and Bess, andSketches of Spain.[10]
Some observers saw the subsequenthard bop style as a response to cool and West Coast jazz.[14] Conversely,David H. Rosenthal sees the development of hard bop as a response to both a perceived decline in bebop and the rise of rhythm and blues.[15] Shelly Manne suggested that cool jazz and hard bop simply reflected their respective geographic environments: the relaxed cool jazz style reflected a more relaxed lifestyle in California, while driving bop typified the New York scene.[16]
Ted Gioia has noted that some of the artists associated with theECM label during the 1970s are direct stylistic heirs of cool jazz.[6] While these musicians may not sound similar to earlier cool artists, they share the same values:
clarity of expression; subtlety of meaning; a willingness to depart from the standard rhythms of hot jazz and learn from other genres of music; a preference for emotion rather than mere emoting; progressive ambitions and a tendency to experiment; above all, a dislike for bombast.[6]
Gioia also identifies cool's influence upon other idioms, such asnew-age,minimalism, pop,folk, andworld music.[6]
Cool also inspiredavant-garde jazz and, later,free jazz.[1]
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