Cool jazz, also called West Coast jazz, came as a reaction to “hot jazz” (Louis Armstrong and the Hot Fives) and bebop. In contrast, cool jazz features more melodic solos with slower, longer, and more lyrical phrases compared to bebop.
Musicians
- Chet Baker: trumpeter, singer
- mellow vocals
- introverted playing style, often performed sitting in a chair and looking downward
- Modern Jazz Quartet
- intellectual, bluesy jazz
- all Black
- Third Stream subgenre (coined by Gunther Schuller) combining classical music (e.g. fugue) and jazz
- Dave Brubeck: drummer, bandleader
- ”Take Five”: conservative sound, experimental meter (5/4)
- Thelonius Monk: pianist, bandleader
- Miles Davis: trumpeter, bandleader