The Cool Jazz Movement

[trjeam]

I have heard this millions of time times. "The cool" movement in jazz. Whenever anyone talks about miles davis or chet baker this always comes up.The the cool movement. I don't know what it was or what it is or when it happend it. Could someone explain it to me. What was going on at the time and why is it called the cool movement?

Thank you for any info.

[Larry Smithee]

My understanding of this movement, somethimes called "cool" jazz is that it was a reaction of sorts against the "hard bop" style, whose prominent players included Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, and Clifford Brown. Cool jazz was often softer and sometimes muted (harmon) and less strident and forceful, the principle participant and leader being Miles Davis and much imitated by some West Coast players. Many of the West Coast players were often castigated by critics as being without much depth and excitment (or "soul"?). At anyrate, IMO Chet Baker was certainly the best of the West Coast bunch. Bird must have thought so to, since he chose him to replace Miles in his quintet.
Larry Smithee

[wayben]

As I understand it Cool Jazz and Hard Bop are both offshoots of Bebop that developed in the 50s. Cool Jazz mainly on the west coast, with Hard Bop mainly on the east coast. Chet Baker as a good example of Cool Jazz and Clifford Brown as an example of Hard Bop. Of coarse, there is always some intermixing, Miles Davis being the most well known. His album "Birth of the Cool" is a must have Cool Jazz album. While his albums with John Coltrane, "Cookin'", "Workin'", "Steamin'", and "Relaxin'" are classic Hard Bop.

[PH]

Cool jazz actually is originally a New York thing from the late 1940s. It's later manifestations became more popular and visible in the '50s when the majority of the cool players had taken up residence in California. Therefore, many people mistakenly consider cool jazz to be synonymous with '50s west coast jazz.

The main originators were the Miles Davis/Gil Evans Nonet and their album "Birth of the Cool", The combos of pianist Lennie Tristano (with saxophonists Lee Konitz & Warne Marsh), and the pianoless combos of Bari player Gerry Mulligan (feat. either Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Bob Brookmeyer, or Art Farmer as the other horns).

Most cool musicians were aware of bebop, but had their musical roots in the style of the pre-bop Basie band (esp. tenor sax player Lester Young) and were inspired by the orchestra of Claude Thornhill (which featured French horns, tuba, woodwind doubling, the writing of Gil Evans, and sax soloist Lee Konitz).

Like most things in modern jazz, Miles probably was the first major trumpet artist, but Baker (with Mulligan's band) was there almost from the start.

[cybertrumpet]

I performed a concert once with Gunther Schuller conducting and we performed the music from this period. We actually had the charts and read the music that Miles used in birth of the cool. It was kind of eerie to read music that had pencil markings that were made by Miles. The arrangements were so well done and according to Gunther Schuller, way ahead of their time harmonically speaking. I for one, can say this to be true, as the music played like a dream!!

[trjeam]

so any other players besides miles and chet that were playing this kind of music? Also I am thinking that some of this music was around some of you guys time. So i was just wondering when you guys heard this type of music come in what did you think about it. At the time did you know that we would be talking about this music decades later? Did you guys know that it was legendary? Or was it just a pop thing.

[mistrad37]

Some critics consider the cool bop period the lowest form of jazz for whatever reason or another. Cool jazz appealed to the "white audience." Bop was being played real hard in the mid-late forties and the musicians were not getting respect from the white critics. Miles and others fought against this by developing cool jazz.

Now the critics like Miles again, at least for a short period. Then they moved to the west coast to play there. However, miles went to the west coast with Monk and cool jazz was a side gig right at the end of Miles' stay on the west coast. When he moved back to NYC that is when the movement really took off. Some others that were playing that style were: Dave Brubeck, Chet, Gil Evans, and countless others, however the previous listed were most popular.

[hardbopper]

Cool Jazz offered the soloist more time and space to create a more thought out or cohesive solo. Some may say it was a low form of jazz but taken to the artistic extremes it produced some of the best jazz ever recorded. Kind of Blue is a good example. This style also allowed the members of the rythum section and soloist to comunicate on a level that had not been previously explored. This kind of communication produced something completly unique.

[RooTheHorn]

hardbopper - you said that kind of blue is a good example of cool jazz. It is definately cool, but I have always heard it defined as modal jazz. Is modal jazz a subset of cool or vica versa, or are they distinct but overlapping categories? Any thoughts? Thanks
RooTheHorn

[mistrad37]

Kind of Blue is very modal. It is not cool jazz at all. Kind of blue was actually one of the first modal albums. Another good exaple is John Coltrane's Impressions. Cool jazz was a SHORT LIVED era with simple chords and slow melodic lines. It was the contrary to bop at about the same time from the late 40's and very early 50's then modal music took over.