Search - Paul Desmond :: The Paul Desmond Quintet/Quartet

Early Desmond

Jazzcat | Genoa, Italy Italy | 08/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an early album from Paul Desmond. You can hear that his playing was on its way to become what then it has became, but it was at its early stage. Nevertheless this Desmond' album is a great work in its own right. It is a splendid fifties album with a great California feeling throughout. The music is a pianoless Jazz, which can sound a little "empty" here and there, very contrapuntual at some points, especially the tunes recorded with Don Elliott at the mellophone. The only "harmonic" instrument present here is the guitar of Barney Kessel who played (very politely) on some tracks, but not on the entire album. There are also four tunes recorded with a vocal choir that have an especially tender fiftien atmosphere. In the end the album is various enough to be pleasing and entertaining something that you can't say of a lot of pianoless combos albums. Paul had his style already identified even if not completly mature. His sound was a little bit lighter, less deep than the one he had in more recent years. Anyway I think that for fifties Jazz lovers like myself this is an essential album because it sounds incredibly fifties, cool and californian. Better, it is one of the fiftiest album I have ever heard and I'm really glad I own it."

The Smoothest

M. S. Thomas | Kyoto, Japan | 03/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How did Desmond manage to sound simultaneously so smooth and so sophisticated? Desmond draws you in to his web and paralyzes you with smoothness, but there is nothing vanilla or wallpaper about him. Most of the best songs here, including the outstanding lead off track, "Jeruvian," were composed by tenor saxaphonist Dave Van Kriedt. Van Kriedt's compositions are perfect for Desmond's style, relaxed, deceptivly complicated, and nearly as fresh as the day they were recorded. Desmond's "Jazzabelle" is also excellent. Some of the vocal tracks, including "Will I Know," and "Garden in the Rain" sound a bit dated however. While there are great jazz albums to be had from the every decade, the last 5 or 6 years of the 1950's produced more classic jazz, more music that stands the test of time, than any other period. Is there really any doubt about this? The Desmond bands made elegance look easy."