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

See Examples For:

cool jazz

Although the recordings were not immediately successful, they heralded the "cool jazz" that would prove popular with musicians dissatisfied with the formulaic nature of bebop and its emphasis on virtuosity.

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

Children may not be familiar with cool jazz, but they know what cool is, and the trumpeter and composer Miles Davis epitomized both.

From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2019

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