Cool jazz (from “cool”) lowered the temperature of bebop: instead of frantic drive — a soft, balanced delivery, light tone production, refined orchestral colours. The style leaned toward the chamber-like and at times drew close to art music.
Its starting point was Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool (1949–50). Its notable figures were the trumpeter-singer Chet Baker, the baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, and the pianist Dave Brubeck (whose quartet recorded Paul Desmond's Take Five). Cool jazz showed that jazz could be quiet, contemplative, and deeply lyrical. On the US West Coast a kindred “West Coast” school took shape, and the lyricism of the piano jazz of this era was raised by Bill Evans.
