Cool Music: Album, Track and Artist Charts

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Description of Cool

While the beboppers were reaching new heights of technical virtuosity in their solos, another group of jazz musicians began focusing more on arrangements and strong melodies. Soloists turned the focus of their improvisations away from speed and harmonic prowess in favor of a less ornamental, more melodic approach. Composer-arrangers such as Gil Evans slowed down the blistering tempos of Bop to a mid-tempo swing, which allowed them to explore subtle harmonies and compositional structures. Cool Jazz's classical influences carried over to its composers' choice of instrumentation; bandleader Claude Thornhill brought flute, French horn, and tuba into a sound that was by turns impressionistic and swinging, progressive and nostalgic. The Cool period represented one of the peaks of jazz's popularity: Dave Brubeck's 1959 album Time Out was one of the first jazz albums to sell more than a million copies.

Cool Key Tracks

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Play/Add	Track	Artist
	1. If You Could See Me Now	Art Farmer
	2. You're Lookin' At Me	Carmen McRae
	3. Gone	Gerry Mulligan
	4. Doxy	Cal Tjader
	5. My Funny Valentine	Paul Desmond
	6. Morning Glory	Bob Brookmeyer

Filed Under

Jazz > Cool/West Coast Jazz > Cool

Cool Key Artists

Al Cohn

A quality tenor sax player
and composer, Al Cohn
played extensively with
Zoot Sims, as well as Woody
Herman and Buddy Rich.

Anita O'Day

This free-spirited and
trend-setting Bop and Cool
Jazz vocalist has remained a
star for decades. Often
self-destructive, Anita O'D...

Bill Evans

Evans' lyrical, distilled,
often boldly impressionistic
piano playing is as popular
today as during his lifetime.
Evans played a key role in...

Cal Tjader

Vibraphonist Tjader
brought his Cool/West Coast
sensibilities to hot Latin
Jazz. Tjader started out
playing with Dave Brubec...

Chet Baker

Chet Baker was one of the
most celebrated West Coast
Cool Jazz musicians, and
also an amazing singer. He
died in 1988. This lithe We...

Chris Connor

Atlantic Record's biggest
jazz seller of the 1950s,
Connor's Cool vocal style
works with small groups, big
bands and strings. The Eas...

Dave Brubeck

This pianist crossed over to
mass popularity without
ever pandering to the
public or adopting any of
the latest trends. Brubec...

George Shearing

Either with his much-copied
quintet, or solo, Shearing's
jazz piano playing helped
shape Bop. Cool and Mood
music. Shearing's mix of vi...

Gerry Mulligan

This undervalued jazz
master played the unwieldy
baritone sax, wrote scores
of classic tunes, and helped
define Cool Jazz. Mulligan...

Gil Evans

With or without Miles Davis,
Evans' stunning band charts
helped pave the way for
Cool and Avant Garde jazz.

John Lewis

The leader of the sublime
Modern Jazz Quartet, this
pianist also recorded
frequently under his name.

Lennie Tristano

A brilliant jazz pianist,
composer, and teacher,
Tristano taught and played
beside Mingus, Charlie
Parker, and many others.

Lester Young

Everything about the Pres
was his own -- his feathery
tenor sax tone, his
improvisatory flights, and
his hipster vocabulary. Y...

Miles Davis

Miles Davis helped define
five decades of jazz and
became a superstar in the
process. Davis dropped out
of Juilliard to play jazz. Mi...

Modern Jazz Quartet

This innovative quartet
remained one of the
greatest jazz supergroups
for almost five decades.
Pianist/composer John Le...

Paul Desmond

The quintessential alto
saxophonist of West Coast
Jazz, Desmond is best
known for his cool years
with Dave Brubeck.

Stan Getz

His tenor sax tone was so
gorgeous that musicians
dubbed him The Sound.
Getz's disarming versatility
enabled him to shine in S...

Cool

Description of Cool

Cool Key Tracks

Cool Key Albums

Filed Under

Cool Key Artists

Electronics

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