Paul Desmond

American jazz alto saxophonist and composer

Born: November 25, 1924; San Francisco, California

Died: May 30, 1977
Principal Recordings:
Brubeck Trio with Cal Tjader, Volume 1 (1949) Brubeck Trio with Cal Tjader, Volume 2 (1949)
Dave Brubeck Octet (1950) The Dave Brubeck Quartet (1952) Jazz at Oberlin (1953) Jazz at the
College of the Pacific (1953) Jazz Goes to College (1954) Brubeck Time (1955) Jazz: Red Hot
and Cool (1955) Brubeck Plays Brubeck (1956) Jazz Impressions of the U.S.A. (1956) Plays and
Plays and... (1957) Dave Digs Disney (1957) Jazz Impressions of Eurasia (1958) Newport 1958
Gone with the Wind (1959) Time Out (1959) Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein (1960)
Brubeck and Rushing (1960) Time Further Out (1961) The Real Ambassadors (1962)
CountdownTime in Outer Space (1962) Bossa Nova U.S.A. (1963) At Carnegie Hall (1963)
Time Changes (1963) Jazz Impressions of Japan (1964) Jazz Impressions of New York (1964)
Angel Eyes (1965) My Favorite Things (1965) Dave Brubeck's Greatest Hits (1966) Time In
(1966) Anything Goes (1966) Bravo! Brubeck! (1967) The Last Time We Saw Paris (1967)
Compadres (1968) Blues Roots (1969) Live at the Berlin Philharmonie (1970) The Last Set at
Newport (1971) "Another step forward" - Ovation label We're All Together Again for the First
Time (1973) Two Generations of Brubeck (1973) Brubeck & Desmond 1975: the Duets
The Life:
Paul Emil Breitenfeld, or most popularly known as Paul Desmond, was born in San
Francisco, California in 1924 to Shirley and Emil Aron Breitenfeld (All About Jazz). During his
childhood, he spent many years living with relatives in New York due to troubles at home (All
About Jazz). Desmond picked up music at an early, starting with the violin despite the fact his
father did not approve of him playing (All About Jazz). He additionally learned how to play the
clarinet beginning high school at the San Francisco Polytechnic Institute, but it wasnt until
Desmond attended San Francisco State College where he would find his true love for alto
saxophone (All About Jazz). However, during his first year of college, Desmond was drafted to
an army base right out of San Francisco (All About Jazz). This was the time when Paul made the
switch from Breitenfeld to Desmond because he felt Breitenfeld sounded too "Irish" (NPR). For

the duration of his time serving, Desmond played in the army band and met his lifelong musical
companion, David Brubeck. (All That Jazz).
After World War II, Desmond and Brubeck met up again and formed an octet and created
music that put emphasis on the European classical elements in modern jazz (NPR).
Unfortunately, this group was unable to receive a large following and separated after a short
while (NPR). Though some of their early attempts failed, Desmond and Brubeck continued to
play together at San Francisco's Geary Cellar and a college hangout called the Bandbox (NPR).
Listeners were drawn to the unique dynamic duo, they always seemed to keep in sync with each
other. Even Brubeck recalls, "We had some sort of ESP. A lot of funny things would happen
while we were playing that would amaze both of us" (NPR).
Brubeck served as the leader of the group which caused some drama. In some cases,
Brubeck pushed Desmond to go beyond his musical preferences by forcing him to play uptempo
tunes (NPR). Desmond preferred playing ballads and midtempo tunes, but Brubeck knew how to
push Desmonds buttons to get him to play songs such as "Perdido" and "I Got Rhythm" (NPR).
At one point during their friendship, the two had a breakout resulting in Desmond leaving for
New York City. However, this argument was short-lived after Desmond heard about Brubecks
trio getting attention; he promptly returned to San Francisco to reconcile and rekindle not only
their friendship but musical talents together. From this point forward, they were known as The
Dave Brubeck Quartet and remained inseparable for sixteen years (NPR).
Paul Desmond was influenced by Lester Young and Pete Brown during his musical
career and was one of the main proponents to introduce the west jazz cool style (All About
Jazz). He was known as a swinging introvert had described his sound as a dry martini
(NPR). Through the 1950s, Desmond continually won polls for best alto sax player due to his

melodic sound and his talent for improvisation (NPR). Desmond had a sense of humor and kept
calm most of the time, but he was capable of showing strong emotion in his work, particularly
when he was pushed, it was said he could produce chorus after brilliant chorus (All About
Jazz). It was also noted that he had several addictions, ranging from whiskey, to cigarettes, LSD
and other hard core drugs. Unfortunately, these dependences contributed to his early death.
In 1959, the Brubeck Quartet came out with one of the most ground-breaking jazz albums
of all time: Time Out (NPR). What made this album so unique is that it stood out from the
standard 4/4 meter, each tune using a different time signature (NPR). Brubeck composed all of
the songs on the album, except one which he specifically asked Desmond to write. Desmond had
considered this the throwaway piece of the album, but little did he know it would become the
most successful jazz single ever recorded: Take Five (NPR). Though Desmond is known notably
for this piece, he was never one to really care about fame and popularity (NPR). According to
biographer, Doug Ramsey, Desmond left much of royalties from Take Five to the Red Cross
(NPR).
As all good things come to an end, the Brubeck quartet separated in 1967 (NPR). This
was the start of Desmonds full-time solo career while playing with musicians such as Jim Hall,
Gerry Mulligan, and Chet Baker (NPR). Due to his poor health, Desmonds last show was in
February 1977 in New York's Avery Fisher Hall and could only play the second half because he
struggled gasping for air (All About Jazz). Desmond passed later that year, however his legacy
and championing of cool, west coast jazz is known for a lifetime.

Works Cited

"Paul Desmond: 'The Sound of a Dry Martini'" NPR. NPR, 02 Jan. 2008. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.npr.org/2008/01/02/17487437/paul-desmond-the-sound-of-a-dry-martini>.
"Paul Desmond @ All About Jazz." All About Jazz. All About Jazz, 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
<http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/pauldesmond>.