Paul Desmond
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 a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed that group's biggest hit, "Take Five".
Paul Desmond
Paul Emil Breitenfeld
November 25, 1924
San Francisco, California, U.S.
May 30, 1977 (aged 52)
New York City, U.S.
- Musician
- composer
- arranger
1940s–1977
In addition to his work with Brubeck, he led several groups and collaborated with Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Jim Hall, and Ed Bickert. After years of chain smoking and poor health, Desmond succumbed to lung cancer in 1977 after a tour with Brubeck.
Early life[edit]
Desmond was born Paul Emil Breitenfeld in San Francisco, California, in 1924, the son of Shirley (née King) and Emil Aron Breitenfeld.[1] His grandfather Sigmund Breitenfeld, a medical doctor, was born in Austria in 1857; he and wife Hermine (née Lewy) emigrated to the US at the end of the 19th century. They had four children (including Emil, father of Paul Emil). Paul Desmond and members of his father's family "frequently speculated as to whether Sigmund or Hermine Breitenfeld had Jewish backgrounds", but they did not identify as Jewish, or observe Jewish traditions.[2] However, Fred Barton, songwriter/arranger and Desmond's cousin, found extensive genealogical proof that both the Breitenfeld and Löwy families were Bohemian Jews. The Breitenfeld family in Bohemia and Vienna featured musicians in every generation throughout the 1800s, 1900s, and to the present day. Desmond's mother, born Shirley King, was of an Irish Catholic family.[1]
Desmond's father Emil Breitenfeld was a pianist, organist, arranger, and composer who accompanied silent films in movie theaters and produced musical arrangements for printed publication and for live theatrical productions. 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]
Desmond's mother Shirley was emotionally unstable throughout his upbringing, and appears to have suffered from obsessive–compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses.[1] Starting in 1933, Desmond spent nearly five years living with relatives in New Rochelle, New York due to his mother's mental health problems.
Desmond began to study the clarinet at the age of twelve, which he continued while at San Francisco Polytechnic High School. While in high school, Desmond wished to study the violin, but his father dissuaded him, saying that violin players were "a dime a dozen....with the violin, you'll starve."[1] Desmond developed a talent for writing during high school as well, becoming co-editor of his high school newspaper. In that capacity, he interviewed comedian Bob Hope for his school newspaper during one of Hope's visits to San Francisco. After high school, Desmond enrolled at San Francisco State College where he majored in English. At that time, he began playing the alto saxophone, after being influenced by the likes of Lester Young and Charlie Parker. In his first year of college, 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 not called to combat.[4]
Following his military discharge, Paul Emil Breitenfeld legally changed his last name from Breitenfeld to Desmond in 1946. He told many stories over the years regarding how he chose the name Desmond, but his biographer Doug Ramsey offers an account from Desmond's friend Hal Strack that the two were listening to the Glenn Miller band singer Johnny Desmond in 1942, and Desmond told Strack "that's such a great name. It's so smooth and yet it's uncommon....If I ever decide I need another name, it's going to be Desmond."[1]
Desmond was married from 1947 to 1949 to Duane Reeves Lamon.[5] He never remarried.[1]
Style[edit]
Desmond produced a light, melodic tone on the alto saxophone, trying to sound, he said, "like a dry martini." 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. 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]
Desmond's improvisation is praised for its logical structure and lyricism.[15] His gift for improvised counterpoint is perhaps most evident on his two albums with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan (Mulligan-Desmond Quartet and Two of a Mind). In his playing Desmond was also notable for his ability to produce extremely high notes, the altissimo register, on his saxophone.
Desmond played a Selmer Super Balanced Action model alto saxophone with an M. C. Gregory model 4A-18M hard rubber mouthpiece, both dating from circa 1951, with a moderately stiff Rico 3 ½ reed.[16]
Legacy[edit]
In 2024, his song “Samba de Orfeu” which he made in 1965 was mentioned in the Boston Globe.[17]