So, what is Cool Jazz? This style of music was first developed in New York in the 1950s. Origin of this music was bebop. The signature of this type of music is the aggressive tempos.
Aside from improvised solos, the arrangement of this music is already intricate and uses innovative forms.
Why “cool”? This term, which was associated with Jazz in 1953 in the album of Classics in Jazz: Cool and Quiet , has a meaning of aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style.
Despite that it has the ambiguity of exact usage, many would use this term to express admiration or approval. This usage is commonly regarded as slang.
Early development of this song has close connection to the world condition. It was the period of the second world war. So we can expect that everyone has the desire to be free and wants a better world.
Musicians, especially Jazz musicians has the tool to express their thoughts and freedom was figurative reality in those days. And this gradually influence the way people think. And it is not an exaggeration that it creates a Jazz culture.
This genre became accepted as one genre within Jazz especially after Miles Davis released his tune Birth of the Cool. Although it was initiated by musicians from New York and was not very popular, later Cool Jazz was accepted as a western style.
Dave Brubeck had his album entitled “Time out”” to surge to second position on the Billboard pop album charts. And later many picked up this genre and made it their identity.
Chet Baker is one of them. He was known as the “Prince of Cool” in 1983. Entering the 1960s this style evolved and mix with many influences creating other genres such as Modal jazz and Free Jazz
I think it is best if someone credible explain to you what the genre really is. This following video just below is Billy Taylor explaining the style of the music with indepth explanation.
So what are the forms of the tune or the performances of Cool Jazz?