Brubeck, Dave
Desmond Paul, born Breitenfeld Paul, 25 November 1924 San Francisco (California), †30 May 1977 New York, American jazz saxophonist (alto) and jazz composer. From 1951, he was associated for over a decade with D. Brubeck’s quartet, with whom he toured Poland in 1958. One of the most highly regarded alto saxophonists of the 1950s. He composed over a dozen short jazz pieces, including Take Five. Combining his own individuality with the influences of Stan Getz and L. Konitz, he developed a distinctive, communicative playing style characterised by lyricism, elegance, subtle phrasing and light articulation. From a historical perspective, he is considered one of the leading figures of cool jazz. In the 1970s, he collaborated with, amongst others, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jim Hall, his own band (The P. Desmond Quartet Live 1976), as well as with D. Brubeck (The Duets 1975) and his reactivated quartet; he undertook a series of artistic tours to Europe, Australia and Japan. In the mid-1970s, he lived in New York (performing at the Half Note club) and in Toronto (1974–75), where he played with, among others, the Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert. Following Desmond’s death, several albums were released containing both reissues and new recordings, including: The Complete Recordings of the P. Desmond Quartet with J. Hall (1987), Late Lament (1987), and The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1997). Desmond enjoyed his greatest popularity at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, when he performed and recorded with D. Brubeck’s quartet; his recordings with G. Mulligan (Two of the Mund 1962) and J. Hall are particularly noteworthy.