Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond
Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond, October 8, 1954
Background information
Birth name	Paul Emil Breitenfeld
Also known as	"The Stork"
Born	(1924-11-25)November 25, 1924 San Francisco, California, United States
Died	Manhattan, New York City, United States
Genres	Cool jazz, West Coast jazz, mainstream jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, arranger
Instruments	Alto saxophone, clarinet
Labels	Columbia, RCA Victor, Horizon, CTI
Associated acts	Dave Brubeck, Ed Bickert, Gerry Mulligan, Jim Hall, Chet Baker

Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's greatest hit, "Take Five". He was one of the most popular musicians to come out of the West Coast's cool jazz scene.

In addition to his work with Brubeck, he led several of his own groups and did significant collaborations with artists such as Gerry Mulligan, Jim Hall and Chet Baker. After years of chain smoking and general poor health, Desmond succumbed to lung cancer in 1977 following one last tour with Brubeck.

Early life

Desmond was born Paul Emil Breitenfeld in San Francisco, California, in 1924, the son of Shirley (née King) and Emil Aron Breitenfeld. His father was from a Jewish family from Bohemia and Austria, and his mother was Catholic; throughout his life, Desmond was unsure of his father's background.

His father was a pianist, organist, and composer, who accompanied silent films in movie theaters and arranged for music companies. His mother was emotionally unstable throughout his upbringing. During childhood he spent years living with relatives in New York City due to problems at home. Desmond began playing violin at an early age, though his father forbade him to play it.

Desmond began to study clarinet at the age of twelve, which he continued while at San Francisco Polytechnic High School. Paul was not only a gifted musician, but a talented writer who took an early interest in show business. As co-editor of his high school newspaper, he helped secure an interview with Bob Hope during his visit to San Francisco. It was not until he became a freshman at San Francisco State College that he picked up the alto saxophone. In his first year Desmond was drafted into the United States Army and joined the Army band while stationed in San Francisco. He spent three years in the military, but his unit was never called to combat.

Career

Following the conclusion of World War II, Desmond started working outside Palo Alto, California, at the Band Box, 3401 El Camino Real, Redwood City. He also worked with Brubeck at the Geary Cellar in San Francisco. Desmond soon hired Brubeck, but cut his pay in half and then replaced him altogether after taking him along to Graeagle at The Feather River Inn for gigs; this was done so Desmond could gamble in nearby Reno. In 1950 Desmond left for New York City playing alto and clarinet for Jack Fina, but returned to California after hearing Brubeck's trio on the radio.

The story of their encounter is somewhat humorous. Brubeck—married with three children and holding a grudge from his earlier experience with Desmond—instructed his wife, Iola, not to let him set foot in his house. However, Desmond came to his home in San Francisco one day while Dave was out back hanging diapers on a laundry line, and Iola let him in and took him to Brubeck. Apparently all the begging in the world would not convince Brubeck to hire him, at least not until Desmond offered to babysit Brubeck's children.

Dave Brubeck Quartet

Main article: The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Some people called him the stork—'Cause he would stand on one leg and leaned on the piano. But that... that was when he was playing great. 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.

Dave Brubeck
(PBS interview with Hedrick Smith)

Desmond had first met Dave Brubeck in 1944 while still in the military. Brubeck was trying out for the 253rd Army band which Desmond belonged to. After making the cut he—unlike Desmond—was sent to war in 1944. Desmond once told Marian McPartland of National Public Radio's Piano Jazz that he was taken aback by the chord changes Brubeck introduced during that 1944 audition. After convincing Brubeck to hire him following his stint with Jack Fina, the two had a contract drafted (of which Brubeck was the sole signatory); the language forbade Brubeck from ever firing him, ensured Brubeck's status as group leader, and gave Desmond twenty percent of all profits generated from the quartet. That is how the Dave Brubeck Quartet had its start, a group that began in 1951 and ended in December 1967. The quartet became especially popular with college-age audiences, often performing in college settings like on their ground-breaking 1953 album Jazz at Oberlin at Oberlin College, or on their recordings on the campuses of Ohio University and the University of Michigan, among others. The success of the quartet led to a Time magazine piece on them in 1954, with the famous cover featuring Brubeck's face. The group played until 1967, when Brubeck switched his musical focus from performance to composition and broke the unit up. During the 1970s Desmond joined Brubeck for several reunion tours, including "Two Generations of Brubeck". Accompanying them were Brubeck's sons Chris Brubeck, Dan Brubeck and Darius Brubeck. In 1976 Desmond played 25 shows in 25 nights with Brubeck, touring the United States in several cities by bus.

Other collaborations

Playing with Desmond and Mulligan was really mind-blowing because they were such heroes for me.

Perry Robinson

In June 1969 Desmond appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Festival with Gerry Mulligan, procuring favorable reactions from critics and audience members. During Brubeck's Two Generations tours, Desmond and Mulligan shared the stage together in 1974. Unlike Brubeck, Mulligan personally shared much in common with Desmond. The two shared similar interests and humor, and both men had no shortage of addictions in their lives.

After some time spent inactive, Desmond was asked to play the Half Note in New York City in 1971 by guitarist Jim Hall. With his special brand of humor, Desmond said that he took the job only because he was nearby and could tumble out of bed to work. The two continued to play at the club to jam-packed audiences. Desmond also joined The Modern Jazz Quartet for a Christmas concert in 1971 at the New York Town Hall.

Desmond recorded the tune "Summertime" along with many others during his time with Chet Baker.

Desmond met Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert through Hall in Toronto, Canada and began performing with him at several clubs in the Toronto area. Bickert played in the Paul Desmond Quartet at the Edmonton Jazz Festival, and they recorded several albums together.

Personal life

In their private lives Dave Brubeck and his family were very close to Paul Desmond, though the two men possessed very different personalities. Darius Brubeck recalls thinking that Desmond was his uncle almost into adolescence. Desmond grew especially close to Dave's son Michael, to whom he left his saxophone upon death. Desmond also was described as a womanizer who was unable to form, or uninterested in maintaining, steady relationships with women, though he had no shortage of them throughout his life. Desmond is reported to have quipped, upon seeing a former girlfriend on the street, "There she goes, not with a whim but a banker" (a Spoonerism reference to T.S. Eliot's "This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper"). In contrast, Brubeck was a stalwart family man.

I have won several prizes as the world's slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness.

Paul Desmond

Desmond was quite well-read and retained a unique wit. He enjoyed reading works by the thinkers of his generation like Timothy Leary and Jack Kerouac, also dabbling in some LSD usage. He was known to have several addictions, including Dewar's Scotch whisky and Pall Mall cigarettes. His chemical-dependency problems would sometimes drain him of his energy on the road. Clarinetist Perry Robinson recalls in his autobiography that Desmond would sometimes need a vitamin B12 shot just to go on playing during his later career.

Pristine, perfect. One of the great livers of our time. Awash in Dewar's and full of health.

Paul Desmond

Desmond died on May 30, 1977, not of his heavy alcohol habit but of lung cancer, the result of his longtime heavy smoking. Never without his humor, after he was diagnosed with cancer he expressed pleasure at the health of his liver. His last concert was with Brubeck in February 1977, in New York City. His fans did not know that he was already dying. Desmond specified in his will that all proceeds from "Take Five" would go to the Red Cross following his death. Desmond reportedly owned a Baldwin grand piano, which he lent to Bradley Cunningham, owner of Bradley's piano bar in Greenwich Village, with the condition that Cunningham had to move the large piano back to Desmond's Upper West Side apartment to become part of Desmond's estate. After this long and expensive process, Desmond willed the piano to Cunningham, a characteristic and final prank. The Paul Desmond Papers are held at the Holt-Atherton Special Collections in the University of the Pacific Library.

Desmond was cremated and his ashes were scattered.

Style

Desmond had a light melodic tone when playing the alto saxophone that is similar to the style of Lee Konitz, one of his influences. He was able to achieve particularly high notes, called altissimo, becoming one of the best-known players from the West Coast's cool school of jazz. 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. His gift for improvised counterpoint is perhaps most notable on the two albums he recorded with Mulligan (Mulligan-Desmond Quartet and Two of a Mind). He said he tried to sound "like a dry martini."

Desmond played a Selmer Super Action model alto saxophone (which was the immediate predecessor of the Selmer Mk VI) with an M. C. Gregory model 4A-18M mouthpiece—both dating from circa 1951—with Rico 3 ½ reeds.

Discography

Year	Album	Leader	Label
1950	The Dave Brubeck Octet	Dave Brubeck	Fantasy Records
1951	Brubeck/Desmond	Dave Brubeck	Fantasy Records
1951	Jazz at Storyville	Dave Brubeck	Fantasy Records
1951	Modern Complex Dialogues	Dave Brubeck	Alto Records
1951	How Long, Baby How Long, Pt. 1&2	Jack Sheedy	Coronet Records
1951	The Man I Love c/w Down in Honkytonk Town	Jack Sheedy	Coronet
1952	Jazz at the Blackhawk	Dave Brubeck	Fantasy
1952	The Dave Brubeck Quartet	Dave Brubeck	Fantasy
1953	Jazz at Oberlin	Dave Brubeck	Fantasy
1953	Jazz at the College of the Pacific	Dave Brubeck	Fantasy
1954	Dave Brubeck at Storyville 1954	Dave Brubeck	Columbia Records
1954	Jazz Goes to College	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1954	Brubeck Time	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1954	Gerry Mulligan/Paul Desmond	Paul Desmond, Gerry Mulligan	Fantasy
1955	Jazz: Red Hot And Cool	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1955	Chet Baker Quartet Plus: The Newport Years, Vol. 1	Chet Baker	Philology Records
1956	The Paul Desmond Quartet With Don Elliott	Paul Desmond	Fantasy
1956–57	Dave Brubeck Quartet Live in 1956-57 Featuring Paul Desmond	Dave Brubeck	Jazz Band
1956	Live From Basin Street	Dave Brubeck	Jazz Band
1956	Jazz Impressions of U.S.A.	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1957	Reunion	Dave Brubeck w/ Dave Van Kriedt	Fantasy
1957	Jazz Goes to Junior College	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1957	Dave Digs Disney	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1957	Blues in Time	Paul Desmond, Gerry Mulligan	Verve Records
1958	In Europe	Dave Brubeck Quartet	Columbia
1958	Newport 1958	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1958	Jazz Impressions of Eurasia	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1959	Gone with the Wind	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1959	Time Out	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1959	St. Louis Blues	Dave Brubeck	Moon Records
1959	First place Again!	Paul Desmond	Warner Bros. Records
1960	Southern Scene	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1960	Brubeck and Rushing	Dave Brubeck w/ Jimmy Rushing	Columbia
1960	Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein	Dave Brubeck w/ Leonard Bernstein	Columbia Records
1960	Tonight Only w/ Carmen McRae	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1961	Time Further Out	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
61, 63, 64	The Complete Recordings of the Paul Desmond Quartet With Jim Hall	Paul Desmond	Mosaic Records
1961	Take Five	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1961	Desmond Blue	Paul Desmond	RCA Victor
1962	Countdown - Time in Outer Space	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1962	Bossa Nova U.S.A.	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1962	Brandenburg Gate Revisited	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1962	Late Lament	Paul Desmond	RCA/Bluebird Records
1962	Two of a Mind	Paul Desmond, Gerry Mulligan	RCA Victor
1962	Brubeck in Amsterdam	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1963	At Carnegie Hall	Dave Brubeck Quartet	Columbia
1963	Take Ten	Paul Desmond	RCA Victor
63, 64, 65	Easy Living	Paul Desmond	RCA Victor
1963	Glad to Be Unhappy	Paul Desmond	RCA Victor
1963	Time Changes	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1964	Jazz Impressions of Japan	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1964	Jazz Impressions of New York	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1964	In Concert 1964	Dave Brubeck	Jazz Connoisseur
1964	Bossa Antigua	Paul Desmond	RCA Victor
1964	Dave Brubeck in Berlin	Dave Brubeck	Columbia Records
1965	The Canadian Concert of Dave Brubeck	Dave Brubeck	Can-Am Records
1965	Angel Eyes	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1965	My Favorite Things	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1965	Time In	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1966	Anything Goes!	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1966	The Quartet	Dave Brubeck	Europa Jazz
1966	Jackpot!	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1967	Bravo! Brubeck!	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1967	Buried Treasures	Dave Brubeck	Columbia/Legacy
1967	Take Five Live	Dave Brubeck	Jazz Music Yesterday
1967	The Last Time We Saw Paris	Dave Brubeck	Columbia
1968	Summertime	Paul Desmond	A&M/CTI
1969	From the Hot Afternoon	Paul Desmond	A&M/CTI
1969	Bridge Over Troubled Water	Paul Desmond	A&M/CTI
1971	The Only Recorded Performance of Paul Desmond With the Modern Jazz Quartet	Paul Desmond	Finesse Records
1972	We're All Together Again for the First Time	Dave Brubeck/Gerry Mulligan/Paul Desmond	Atlantic Records
1973	Skylark	Paul Desmond	CTI Records
1973	Giant Box	Don Sebesky	CTI
1974	She Was Too Good to Me	Chet Baker	CTI
1974	Pure Desmond	Paul Desmond	CTI
1975	Like Someone in Love	Paul Desmond	Telarc Records
1975	Concierto	Jim Hall	CTI
1975	1975: The Duets	Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond	Horizon Records
1975	The Paul Desmond Quartet Live	Paul Desmond	Horizon
1976	At Bourbon Street, Toronto 10/75	Paul Desmond	Artists House
1976	25th Anniversary Reunion	Dave Brubeck	Horizon
1977	You Can't Go Home Again	Chet Baker	Horizon
1977	The Best Thing for You	Chet Baker	A&M
1977	Watermark	Art Garfunkel	Columbia

External links

• Paul Desmond at Find a Grave