cool jazz

American  

noun

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of cool jazz

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

“He moves through the world like a cool jazz man, but is also generous and a nurturer,” Nottage told the Times in 2021.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 22, 2023

After cool jazz came "hard bop" — a return to the edginess of bebop combined with the emerging "rhythm 'n' blues."

From Salon • Oct. 16, 2021

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.

From Washington Post • Aug. 24, 2021

Instead, it is Lech Jankowski’s score, a medley of cool jazz and mitteleuropean chamber music, that is the best accompaniment to the sumptuous imagery.

From The Guardian • Jun. 19, 2020

She turns down the radio, cool jazz, and looks me over, hands on her hips, eyes sad and friendly.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson