Gretchen's Post--Brubeck's "Coolness"?

Yesterday in class, we determined that one of the issues surrounding Dave Brubeck that bears further scrutiny is whether or not he can truly be categorized as a “cool jazz” artist. The term cool has often been associated with the more subdued, classically-tinged style of the Miles Davis nonet (Gil Evans) and such bandleaders/artists as Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, etc. How then, does Brubeck’s fiery, wild improvisational style fit into this commonly accepted notion of “cool”? Below, I have researched a range of definitions for cool jazz, hoping to augment our understanding of Brubeck’s place within the style.

“Cool jazz included intricate arrangements, innovative forms, and songs having a thoroughly composed sound (although they included improvised sections). . . . Another variety of cool jazz was that of the pianist Lennie Tristano and his students. Tristano’s music is very different from what Evans and his colleagues were doing: it’s ‘coolness’ was a matter of emotion (Tristano required saxophonists to play with a ‘pure’ tone and to concentrate on melodic development and interaction than overt emotionalism), but his emphasis on sometimes ferociously fast tempos and on pure improvisation rather than arrangement was closer to bebop.” –Wikipedia

The above definition does reflect some of Brubeck’s compositional characteristics—involved arrangements, innovate forms (and meters), with the pieces reflecting unity and thorough composition. As we discussed yesterday, there is also a noticeable similarity between the “cool” styles of Brubeck and Tristano. While both implement the intellectual and highly compositional element to their pieces that embodies the cool style, they also retain some bop elements of breakneck tempos and improvisation.

“West coast jazz is a form of jazz music that developed around Los Angeles and San Francisco at about the same time as hard bop jazz was developing in New York City, in the 1950s and 1960s. [It] was generally seen as a sub-genre of cool jazz. . . . It featured a less frenetic, calmer style than hard bop. The music tended to be more heavily arranged, and more often compositionally based.” –Wikipedia

This additional entry on West coast jazz describes it as a sub-genre of cool, again emphasizing thorough arrangements and compositions. Brubeck is not lacking on the compositional element—it is the “calm” that sometimes seems to be missing from his repertoire. However, I feel that his most famous piece, “Take Five,” does exhibit the cool qualities of calmness, lack of emotion, and a kind of laid-back, subdued feel.

“Tone colors tended toward pastels, vibratos were slow or nonexistent, and drummers played softer and less interactively than in bop, hard bop, and other modern styles that coexisted with cool.”—Encyclopedia Britannica Online

The Britannica entry—succinct if anything—defines what laymen generally thinks of when they think of cool. If we were taking this particular definition as the cut-off for all that constitutes the cool style, Brubeck would probably not make the cut. While he does have some slower, pastel-oriented pieces, his highly improvisatory and frenetic pieces (like some of the examples we viewed/listen to yesterday) would not apply.

Cool jazz: “A term applied to diverse styles of modern jazz variously perceived as subdued, understated, or emotionally cool. . . . Some critics consider that the modern jazz produced on the West Coast during the 1950s constitutes a category of cool jazz. . . . Indeed, although much cool jazz of the 1950s owes a large stylistic debt to groups led by Count Basie and Lester Young in the late 1930s, cool musicians did not ignore the bop approaches that had emerged in the mid-1940s.”—New Grove Dictionary of Jazz Online

The above excerpt went on to suggest that one of the key aspects of the cool style was the resurgence of improvised counterpoint, as demonstrated through the performances of John Lewis and Milt Jackson (MJQ), as well as Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond. Here, the New Grove takes into account that certain groups associated with the cool style, in this case Brubeck, still retained elements of bop in their compositions.

“Cool jazz features arrangements that are generally more complex than those found in bop. . . .Often complex harmonies were played behind the solos in cool jazz—it was much more a style that emphasized the composer and arranger. . . . Very little cool jazz produced through the end of the ‘50s and ‘60s is strictly cool, but it all has recognizable elements that link the different practitioners of the sound together. For example, Dave Brubeck’s work, while retaining many elements of the cool movement, is often very agitated, searching, and experimental. His quartet’s work with ‘odd’ time signatures opened the door for late-‘60s experimenters like Don Ellis and Brubeck’s piano work has sometimes been described as ‘bombastic’ by jazz critics. But the quartet also featured saxophonist Paul Desmond, who played every bit as lyrically as Chet Baker or Lee Konitz and had a gorgeous, thin sound. An intellectual and talented wordsmith, Desmond became, in many ways, the perfect example of a cool jazz artist—cerebral, clever, humorous. . . .Brubeck, too, came across as and intellectual and something of an avant-gardist.”—Jazzitude.com

The above definition was probably the most helpful regarding the Brubeck “cool” myth-busting. Clearly, Brubeck’s music emphasizes the composer and arranger, implementing complex harmonies and innovative use of meters, polytonality, and polyrhythm. The author of the this particular definition admits that Brubeck’s style is not distinctly cool, but instead exhibits certain elements that allow him to be grouped with that style. Furthermore, Paul Desmond is featured as the “true cool” artist of the DB Quartet—perhaps his performance style has contributed to the mass association of Brubeck’s music with the cool movement.

“Cool music is a fusion of European classical influences, swing music, bebop, and musicians who wanted to make their own distinct voice in improvisational music.”
http://www.oswego.edu/academics/colleges_and_departments/departments/music/classes/MUS_317/cool_hardbop.pdf

See the above sight for an extensive listing of the characteristics of the cool jazz style. Without a doubt, Brubeck wanted to make his own voice in improvisational music—to the point that he would risk just about anything in a solo. There is also a definite fusion quality to his music, featuring elements of not only European classicism, but also bop, swing, and basically whatever came to his mind.

Check out this Youtube video, in which Billy Taylor explains the phenomenon and stylistic aspects of cool jazz. One of his primary arguments suggests that the rhythm “floats,” unlike in previous jazz styles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYTmUOh2Lcc

While I could probably keep researching definitions for ages, it seems that our best understanding of Brubeck’s association with the cool movement is that he exhibits some defining aspects of the style—thorough composition, intellectual arrangements, classical influence—is performing within the right time period (‘50s and ‘60s), and is featuring a soloist highly associated with cool: Paul Desmond. However, his music does not strictly adhere to the definition of cool, implementing bop elements such as fast, fiery tempos and pure improvisation. Since the compositional element seems to be one of the primary defining aspects of cool, Brubeck is often lumped into that category. Perhaps it is best to say overall that Brubeck can easily be linked with the cool movement, but cannot be defined by it.