cool jazz

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noun

a restrained, fluid modern-jazz style of the 1950s, marked by intricate harmonic structures, de-emphasized dynamics, and carefully controlled phrasing and ensemble playing, often with a slight lagging behind the beat.

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Also called West Coast jazz.

Compare bop¹, hard bop, modern jazz, progressive jazz.

Origin of cool jazz

First recorded in 1945–50

Words nearby cool jazz

cooling board, cooling degree-day, cooling-off period, cooling tower, cool it, cool jazz, cool off, cool one's heels, cool out, cool school, coolth

How to use cool jazz in a sentence

Watts — who died in London on Tuesday at 80 — was a misfit among misfits, a gentleman lost at sea with hungry pirates, a cool jazz mind in the world’s most insatiable rock-and-roll troupe.
Charlie Watts was a gentleman in the world’s most dangerous band|Chris Richards|August 24, 2021|Washington Post
It’s cool because Trenchmouth opened for Green Day in the early ‘90s in Wisconsin.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
She came to sound check, that was the first time we ever performed it, and it was really cool.
Deer Tick's John McCauley on Ten Years in Rock and Roll|James Joiner|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Triton prices the 1000/3 LP at a cool $3.15 million—inclusive of pilot training.
The Most Exciting New Hotels, Restaurants, and Submarines of 2014|Charlie Gilbert|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Ragtime, blues, country, jazz, soul, and rock and roll were all pioneered or inspired by black artists.
The Cultural Crimes of Iggy Azalea|Amy Zimmerman|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Allow beans to cool completely then remove to a paper towel-lined plate to dry.
Make Carla Hall’s Crispy Shallot Green Bean Casserole|Carla Hall|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Things looked anxious for a bit, but by this morning's dawn all are dug in, cool, confident.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
It mounted straight as a plume for a little way, until it met the cool air of evening which was beginning to fall.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden
He has told me that their society produced on him the effect of the cool hands of saints against his cheek.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
I laved his pain-twisted face with the cool water and let a few drops trickle into his open mouth.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
As for him, he much preferred the darkness of his cool, damp galleries under the ground.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey