In their 'Take The A Train' performance in Hanover, Germany in 1958, for example, Desmond's playing sounded lack-luster and uninterested. JUMP TO: Paul Desmonds biography, facts, family, personal life, zodiac, videos and related celebs. 1" // "How Long, Baby How Long, Pt. He was an actor and composer, known for Rushmore (1998), Say Anything (1989) and Constantine (2005). In Concert at Town Hall (with the Modern Jazz Quartet), DRG, 1971. Theory Desmond died on May 30, 1977, not of his heavy alcohol habit but of lung cancer, the result of his longtime heavy smoking. { Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond is the story of a jazz artist who transcended genres to establish one of the most immediately recognizable sounds in all of music. Playing with him, you really couldn't go wrong. The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond - Parkside Publications With a style that was similar to that of Lee Konitz, one of his influences, he quickly became one of the best-known saxophonists from the West Coast's cool school of jazz. At the New Orleans Jazz Festival he played a soaring set with Gerry Mulligan. Though various critics credited the success of the Dave Brubeck Quartet to Desmond's horn, others over-looked his playing as "too pretty". Desmond enjoyed reading works by the thinkers of his generation like Timothy Leary and Jack Kerouac, also dabbling in some LSD usage. Paul Desmond was born in the Year of the Rat. His mother had some psychological issues such that Paul was sent off to live with relatives from elementary school age until his late teens. When drummer Joe Morello joined the Quartet in 1956, Desmond disliked his crowd-pleasing performances so much that he threatened to quit the Quartet. But that that was when he was playing great. He spent three years in the military, but his unit was not called to combat. Pristine, perfect. Paul Desmond Albums: songs, discography, biography, and listening guide Paul Desmond - Biography. The Breitenfeld family in Bohemia and Vienna featured musicians in every generation throughout the 1800s, 1900s, and to the present day. Paul Desmond Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family Paul Desmond: The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings (Mosaic) When the Quartet split up in 1967, Desmond unofficially retired. Large format (10x11"), hard bound with dust jacket, 372 pages, 190 photos, matte paper; complete with discography of all Desmond recordings. Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 - May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer and proponent of cool jazz. He was an eminent member of the highly renowned Dave Brubeck Quartet, and he earned a reputation as one of West Coast's best jazz saxophonists. Desmond met Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert through a recommendation by Jim Hall, and Desmond performed with Bickert at several clubs in the Toronto area during 19741975. Dr. F. Norman Vickers is a founder of the Jazz Society of Pensacola/Pensacola Jazzfest and a charter member of the Jazz Journalists Association. Permission & contact information, Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, Paul Desmond - Standard Time (Artist Transcriptions), DownBeat - The Great Jazz Interviews (A 75th Anniversary Anthology) (Book), Joe Williams, Dave Brubeck, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonious Monk, Joshua Redman, Monterey Jazz Festival: 40 Legendary Years, The Complete Oberlin & College of the Pacific Concerts. Dave Brubeck(PBS interview with Hedrick Smith)[6]. One of the things I thought about after Paul died was that it was really a shame because he would have been a really great old man. He was a modest, retiring man, known to his friends for his wit and charm. Paul Desmond | | Discogs After high school, Desmond enrolled at San Francisco State College where he majored in English. - Don Thompson. Desmond specified in his will that all proceeds from "Take Five" would go to the Red Cross following his death. He was very easy, because harmonically there was a real clear logic in everything he played musically. There was a sign in our hospital medical library which read: Any book is new until youve read it. Paul Desmond, alto sax; Dave Brubeck, piano; Wyatt Ruther, bass; Herb Barman, drums. In this area, Desmond was a private person. He appeared with Dave Brubeck in a series of concerts called "Two Generations of Brubeck" in which Dave played with his musical sons, and in 1976, the Quartet reunited for the Silver Anniversary Tour. He took whatever work he could get as a player. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. This planet represents abundance, prosperity and the principle of expansion. The first Time Series album, Time Out, was released in 1959 and it was the first ever jazz album to sell over a million copies. The groups popularity had spread via college campuses, but a Time magazine article featuring Brubeck brought them international attention in 1954, the same year that Paul recorded his first album as a leader, The Paul Desmond Quintet - Desmond. Interested? At the time, Brubeck and wife Iola had three small children, and Brubeck had instructed Iola not to let Desmond set foot in the family home. And I figure that it's a dumb move to trade a fairly secure place in the world of jazz for Number 493 Unemployed Humorist. Some found Brubeck's playing heavy-handed. | Instead, though they shared the same concert stage nearly every night, he didn't speak to Morello for a year. I knew Paul Desmond, but I found so much more I did not know."Nat Hentoff, author of American . On the first page of the set's notes, we are informed that Toronto bassist and recording engineer Don Thompson recorded Desmond's quartet in March . Paul Desmond was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, "Take Five". When pushed musically he rose to the occasion, turning out chorus after brilliant chorus. Lemme Tell Ya 'Bout Desmond: the Music of Paul Desmond, Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, Desmond After Dark (With the Dave Brubeck Quartet). Desmonds encounter with the legendary Dave Brubeck has become a trademark story in the jazz world. Though a mild-mannered, professorial-looking man, Desmond was capable of strong emotion. Large format (10x11"), hard bound with dust jacket, 372 pages, 190 photos, matte paper; complete with discography of all Desmond recordings. They had four children (including Emil, father of Paul Emil). His net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. Awash in Dewars and full of health." Paul Desmond Brown - Biography Whos the richest Saxophonist in the world. Famed critic Nat Hentoff called him "one of the most creative figures in modern jazz." [4] During Brubeck's Two Generations tours, Desmond and Mulligan shared the stage in 1974. Large format (10x11"), hard bound with dust jacket, 372 pages, 190 photos, matte paper; complete with discography of all Desmond recordings. Once more details are available, we will update this section. After years of chain smoking and poor health, Desmond succumbed to lung cancer in 1977 after a tour with Brubeck. All rights reserved. Brubeck went back home to California and started work with his trio, with whom he landed a radio gig; upon hearing of Brubecks success, Desmond travelled back to California and begged Brubeck to hire him, which Brubeck did not, until he made Desmond babysit his children. Desmond's grudge against Morello could also be heard during their performance. After World War II, Desmond started working in the San Francisco Bay Area, working as a backing musician. We have estimated Brubeck himself, thought that Desmond lacked ambition, but was upset when he signed a deal with RCA to record on his own, while still part of the Quartet. Biography in: "American National Biography". These illustrations made him a major influence on the image of urban males in twentieth-century America. Desmond was torn for a time between a career as a writer and one as a musician. Colin Skinner: In Praise of British Big Bands, The Scintillating Enigma of Una Mae Carlisle, Integration in the Recording Studio: Eddie Condons Story, Peggy Haine & The Lowdown Alligator Jass Band to Play Again, James Reese Europe and the Clef Club Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. In a business where booze and drugs abound, his drinking was legendary, but it was three packs a day that caught up with him in May of that year. His father suggested that he switch from violin to clarinet. That RCA deal called for two albums a year and led to an incredible series of recording dates with guitarist Jim Hall, and the Modern Jazz Quartet drummer Connie Kay. Many of Desmond; own pieces have a breathy bossa nova lyricism, true to the Brazilian original, not the jivey Americanized version. ". " attractive combination of affection and candor A serious, thoughtful book, as lucidly written as a first-class literary biography" - Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal"A major piece of jazz scholarship, the book cuts no corners." Much of the success of the classic Brubeck quartet was due to the juxtaposition of his airy style over Brubeck's sometimes relatively heavy, polytonal piano work.[14]. Albums include Take Ten, Two of a Mind, and Brubeck Time. Other articles where Paul Desmond is discussed: Dave Brubeck: the addition of alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. His last concert was with Dave Brubeck in February, 1977 at New York's Avery Fisher Hall. He died on May 30, 1977 in New York City, New York, USA. Desmond's mother, born Shirley King, was of an Irish Catholic family. Jazz musician and songwriter who played alto saxophone for the Dave Brubeck Quartet and penned the group's 1959 hit song "Take Five." He was a prominent member of the post-World War II "cool jazz" movement. Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond They're curious, but sometimes too motivated by money. What used to scare me is I'd look at him and it would just be whites in his eyes, wouldn't be any eyeballs. He had a reputation as a lady's man, and was often seen accompanied by gorgeous models. His time was amazing. Eliot's "This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper"). Nationality: American Paul Desmond was born on the 25th of November, 1924. During World War I, while training with the 17th New York Regiment in Plattsburgh, New York, he composed The Last Long Mile, one of the best-known soldiers' songs of that war.[3]. Paul Desmond was born on November 25, 1924 in San Francisco, California, USA. Then in the 70s he changed labels to CTI, and did half a dozen more albums, proving once again that he was more than just a sideman. "name" : "Paul Desmond", Born : November 25, 1924 in San Francisco, California. I shudder to think how close we came to not using that, because I said "Well I got this theme that we could use for a middle part". He had spoken to Don Thompson earlier that month, making plans to play New York with his quartet, but he never made it. Paul Desmond's net worth He began by playing clarinet in high school and was tutored in music theory by his father, a theater organist and arranger. Desmond was cremated and his ashes were scattered. "I have won several prizes as the world's slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness." Desmond was a heavy smoker, several packs a day, as well as a drinker who could play well while in his cups. Lung cancer accounted for his decline and death at age 52. Was he just a minor figure in a jazz landscape of greats? An introvert whose literary ambitions found some expression in his bright and funny album liner notes, Desmond, who died of lung cancer in 1977 at 52, became famous in the 1950s with the hugely. Desmond's melodic solos were in marked contrast to the polytonal rhythms of Brubeck, but somehow they clicked and drove each other to greatness. Chinese Zodiac: Paul Desmond was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Played with the Dave Brubeck Quartet from 1951 until 1967. He is also well-known for his over three decades of illustrations for Brooks Brothers catalogs including more than one-thousand drawings. One of the greats, Charlie Parker, named him as his favourite alto player. People of this zodiac sign like freedom, travel, philosophy, being outdoors and dislike clingy people, constrained, off-the-wall theories. Desmond offered to perform arranging and administrative work for Brubeck's band, and to babysit Brubeck's children, and Brubeck finally relented and agreed to try working with Desmond again.[4]. This is a jazz music websitespammers will be deleted. Better Than A Dry Martini Desmond played his loping, slow, ordered, and intricate solos in direct contrast to the pianist's obsession with large chords, creating a myriad of textures for melodic and rhythmic counterpoint unlike any heard in jazz. He worked in dance bands and dixieland groups, entertained in amusement parks and resorts. 1 (Oct., 2001), pp. Died : May 30, 1977 in New York City, New York. I have won several prizes as the world's slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness. After Desmond died, the editor of Parkside Publications sought out Ramsey and persuaded him to write the book. And we didn't go back on. Paul Desmond was a legendary American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. Desmond featured Bickert on his 1975 studio album Pure Desmond, and the two played together at the 1976 Edmonton Jazz Festival. Basically, Paul was a clarinet player for many years, but he started playing alto after high school and more during the time he was in the Army band at the Presidio in San Francisco. The economic boom and the Jazz Age were over, and America began the period called the Great Depression. Influenced by Lester Young and Pete Brown he originally played clarinet in the big bands of Jack Fina and Alvino Rey. He died on 30 May 1977 in New York City, New York, USA. I knew Paul Desmond, but I found so much more I did not know. - Nat Hentoff, noted critic and jazz writerThe detail of the research is astonishing. Whos the richest Saxophonist in the world? Doug Ramsey. So thrilled was he with his first two weeks at Toronto's "Bourbon Street", that Desmond rushed back to New York and talked record producer Creed Taylor into flying Bickert in so that he could record an album with him. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed that group's biggest hit, "Take Five". The success of the quartet led to a Time magazine piece on them in 1954, with the famous cover featuring Brubeck's face. Twenty years after his death from cancer, his music still sells, is still played, and still moves people. Desmond appeared only half a dozen times with his "Canadian Quartet" Ed Bickert on guitar, Don Thompson on bass, and Jerry Fuller on drums. Although this book is out of print, there are occasionally copies available in the used book ads, some priced at $100 or more. But he had really great time feel, he really did swing beautifully. The greatest overall compatibility with Sagittarius is Gemini and Aries. - Dave Brubeck. Theirs was a musical rapport that Desmond described as "kind of scary.". Influenced by Lester Young and Pete Brown he originally played clarinet in the big bands of Jack Fina and Alvino Rey. Desmond worked several times during his career with baritone saxophonist and band leader Gerry Mulligan. He met Brubeck in the late '40s and played with his Octet. [8], After drummer Joe Dodge decided to leave the group, Joe Morello joined in late 1956 with Desmond's recommendation. Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you. All Rights Reserved If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with that. Jazz at Oberlin , Fantasy, 1953. He was one of the most popular musicians to come out of the West Coast's . In that capacity, he interviewed comedian Bob Hope for his school newspaper during one of Hope's visits to San Francisco. His ambition, he said, was to sound like a dry martini. Jim Hall talked him into coming to Toronto to play with Canada's premier jazz guitarist Ed Bickert. In the 1940s and 1950s, Desmond frequently took amphetamines, and in the 1970s, he was known to use cocaine. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us. Later married Willis Dean Kaye (died 1986); they had one child, Christopher (1956-2014). And, in fact, he was a prolific correspondent, carrying his Olivetti portable typewriter with him even on his foreign trips. Desmond's mother Shirley was emotionally unstable throughout his upbringing, and appears to have suffered from obsessivecompulsive disorder and other mental illnesses. Paul Desmond and members of his father's family "frequently speculated as to whether or not Sigmund or Hermine Breitenfeld had Jewish backgrounds", but they did not identify as Jewish, or observe Jewish traditions. Lesser known, however, are the personal traits of Desmond. According to our Database, He has no children. Overview But he was also a moody man. 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. I've never seen a biography like it. - Gene Lees, Editor of "The Jazz Letter"This is the finest biography we've had of an important jazz figure. - Dan Morgenstern (Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies), LEARNTimelineBrubeck BooksAbout Dave BrubeckBrubeck Living Legacy, LISTENLullabiesJazz WorksCompositionsTime OutTakes, CONNECTContact Find EventsDave Brubeck 100. Paul never said it would be the end. He is not dating anyone. Hall played on several albums recorded by Desmond between 1959 and 1963 for Warner Bros. and RCA Victor. This generation experienced much of their youth during the Great Depression and rapid technological innovation such as the radio and the telephone. During Morello's first performance with the group, he was featured by Brubeck and received an ovation from the audience for his solo. Desmond is best known for his years with the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959-1967) and his well-known composition "Take Five." He met Brubeck in the late '40s and played with his Octet. Desmond made the move from the San Francisco area to New York where he spent his remaining years. 1924 Paul Desmond was born on November 25, 1924 in San Francisco, California, USA as Paul Emil Breitenfeld. Take Five - The Public & Private Lives of Paul Desmond Doug Ramsey knew Paul Desmond personally for years and is a musician as well as a journalist so he has both the insight as well as the ability to tell the story well. Bookmark this page and come back often for updates. After some time spent inactive, Desmond was asked to play the Half Note in New York City in 1971 by Hall. After Morello's complex rhythm, Desmond would play even quieter and even dropped for a few bars. He was known to have several addictions, including Dewar's Scotch whisky and Pall Mall cigarettes. Within several months they attained a measure of national fame, largely by word of mouth among West Coast critics who championed the groups innovations. Awash in Dewar's and full of health. Brubeck managed to keep both Desmond and Morello in the group but with frictions between them for years. His friends called him "the perennial bachelor" few knew that he had been married early in life. Playing with Desmond and Mulligan was really mind-blowing because they were such heroes for me. He first collaborated with Gerry Mulligan, with whom he shared stage in 1969 and in 1974, the former being for the New Orleans Jazz Festival.