![]() He was one of the only successful saxophonists of this period who did not copy the Parker style. His style is very different from that of Charlie Parker, although Desmond was a great admirer of his. Paul Desmond’s playing is fluid and airy, with very little vibrato, and a very smooth sound, which was his charm (a sound similar to Lee Konitz’s saxophone). If I ever change my name, it will be Desmond.” Style and Material Desmond said to Hal Strack: “But that’s a great name, you know. He once joked that he thought his real surname, Breitenfeld, sounded “too Irish” for his taste.ĭesmond’s friend, saxophonist Hal Strack, says that in 1942 the singer who replaced Howard Dulany in Gene Krupa’s band had a complicated Italian name, which he decided to change to Johnny Desmond. Paul Desmond has given several explanations for his choice of “Desmond” as a pseudonym: a name found in a telephone book or newspaper, the name of a girlfriend. He is also said to have written a biography that was never published. He wanted to be a writer, but eventually gave it up: “I could only write at the beach and I always put sand in my typewriter.” He did, however, write a comic short story just after the Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded. It seems that reading was an important pastime in his life, particularly the works of Timothy Leary and Jack Kerouac. However, Desmond did not subsequently give any of his romantic relationships a more formal turn. He was married for three years to Duane Lamon, and then had many relationships with beautiful women or models of his time. Paul Desmond was known to be a ladies’ man. This did not stop Paul Desmond from reading while Joe Morello did his drum solos on recordings. Desmond stayed, however, while not speaking to Morello for a year. ![]() He threatened to leave the quartet: “Either he goes or I go,” to which Brubeck replied, “Paul, he’s not going. When Joe Morello joined the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1956, Desmond, who had spotted his subtle playing on the broomsticks with Marian McPartland and recommended him to Brubeck, was surprised by his newfound rough and tumble playing. Like Desmond with Take Five, Take the A Train is often wrongly attributed to Ellington. The fame of Desmond and Brubeck is sometimes compared to that of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, the former remaining in the shadow of the latter. Desmond participated in several other albums such as the Time series (Time Further Out, Time Changes…) or the Impressions series (of Japan, of New York…), until 1967 when the quartet dissolved. This is Take Five, a composition in 5/4, which will take the band to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and which will simply be a consecration in the jazz world. But it was in 1959 that the Quartet had its greatest musical success, the recording of the album Time Out, featuring 7 compositions with unusual rhythmic signatures such as Blue Rondo a la Turk, Three to get Ready, Pick up Sticks, and above all Paul Desmond’s master composition. They recorded many hits, including Jazz at Oberlin in 1953 and Jazz Goes to College in 1954. The Quartet went through many changes of bassist and drummer until the arrival of Eugene Wright, an African-American bassist, and Joe Morello on drums. Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond were the only permanent members of the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
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