Cool jazz is a type of modern jazz that developed subsequent to World War II. Its characteristics include relaxed and set back tempos accompanied with a lighter tone, contradicting to the bebop style. Cool jazz often incorporates formal arrangements and integrates some elements of classical music. It is derived from bebop, swing and classical music.
‘Cool’ refers a jazz style that has had a more sombre approach due to have developed in post-war periods, in contrast to contemporaneous jazz idioms.
Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer are said to be the early progenitors of cool jazz. Beiderbecke is known for his softening of jazz’s strong rhythmic impact in favour of techniques such as unusual harmonies and whole tone scales. Trumbaeur was known for his smooth and seemingly effortless saxophone work, which was also heavily influenced by tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who is considered a significant figure in the development of ‘cool jazz’. His saxophone playing consisted light sounds, as appose to other saxophonists at the time such as Coleman Hawkins who had a fuller tone. His tendency to rest at the back of the beat instead driving the beat was also an interesting stylistic element. He placed greater emphasis on melodic development than his improvisation.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet also played a key role in the development of ‘cool jazz’. In 1959, his quartet recorded ‘Time Out’, which reached #2 on the Billboard chart. The cool jazz influence stretches into such later developments as modal jazz and even free jazz.
Other examples
Frank Trumbauer:
I Never Miss the Sunshine (1923)
"We can see this record as a key moment in the birth of cool jazz, although that term didn't exist back in 1923. . ."
Miles Davis:
My Ship (1957) Reviewed by Alan Kurtz
"'My Ship,' helmed by arranger Gil Evans to a port of pure bliss, is the most sublime 4+ minutes in all of music. . . ."
Lars Gullin:
Silhouette (1952) Reviewed by David Tenenholtz
"As Gullin progressed in the early 1950s, his command of the "Cool" sound begun by the Miles Davis Nonet made the baritone saxophonist the recipient of many ovations. . . ."