I had the privilege of hearing him meeting him numerous times. He playing was just like his personality - articulate, witty, thoughtful, creative. All delivered with a gorgeous sound that will never, ever be heard again. Cheers to ya Paul. You are missed.
Is funny you mentón this because this is not the techinque virtuoso we are used to. As you said is another kind of genius a more meticulous and elegante genious that does not need fast tempos to impress.
I first heard Paul Desmond 58 years ago, still in high school. I had never heard a sound like his before - and never since. Sax played like velvet - - - Thanks Paul - for all the years and all the sounds. May the Lord take as much pleasure in the talent you have as we all did.
For me it’s been 54 years since my first escort into Desmond’s universe. Ever thankful to my high school band and jazz teacher who brought Dave Brubeck ( w-o Desmond) to meet us, and let us play for him - we, the mighty jazz band of all six of us. Lol. This of course further solidified my interest in Paul Desmond
A Middle aged bald man With big thick glasses wearing a beige suit is the coolest cat I’ve ever seen or heard, never thought I’d say that but it’s true.
0:34 the best timed jet takeoff in history. I’d like to think Emily was on that plane, leaving to a far away place for an indeterminate amount of time, and Paul was left back on the tarmac lamenting her departure, with nothing but his sax in his hand.
The quintessence of Desmond's wistful play. Simple, pure and extremely melodious. The DBQ was blessed by the gods : two geniuses, with Joseph Morello and Paul Desmond. Too much for Paul who left for a second career with beautiful recordings and concerts like this one in the Montreux jazz festival. Superb.
Notice the self-satisfying little smile after he quotes "Would You" at around 2:20. He was a true master of using quotes, because unlike many other players he often slipped them in and it could take several listenings before you realized he did it.
Felicity !! He is an angel of music. These heavenly melodies had not existed on this earth before, was generated there at that moment, and overflowed from his golden saxophone.
Paul Desmond, still my favorite to listen to of most sax players. I can tolerate it both on a conscious and subconscious level without going crazy. Just nice. Thank you Paul. :)
Absolutely touching and elegant. Paul Desmond was a very kind man with a great sense of humour. Listening to his sax is like listening to somebody telling stories.
I was at the concert it was Monterey & the United air flight flew extra low to show the passengers the gig Paul could sooth any savage beast he had the gift of COOL.
There must be, and have been, tens of thousands of alto sax players in the world - but after listening to just the first few notes - we know, that is Paul Desmond. The spirits of these kind of people landed on earth from some far off galaxy.
yeah righton! jumped in the car the other day bit stressesd, turned on some jazz radio- on came Paul Desmond Skylark changed my day completely. Never ever get tired of his tone and mastery of the instrument.
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams
This video should serve for "modern" alto saxophone students as a lesson, as this is the Alpha and Omega of alto saxophone science in it's highest Level. No one compares to Paul. A wonderful tune, beautiful Interpretation.
Paul Desmond was just the best. He donated all proceeds from “Take Five” to the American Red Cross and his sax to Dave Brubeck’s son when he died, just a short time after this was filmed. I believe he had that super sweet, soft tone from learning the clarinet first. And his range was vast. My favorite horn player of all time.
He did play the clarinet at one point. I would love to hear some recordings with him on the clarinet. That said, with Paul, we hear the sound of a soul more than that of an instrument.
This makes me want to pick up an alto too! Never played any horns before, only piano… I will probably never sound like Paul Desmond, but it is still very inspiring!
Playing the sax also helps your phrasing if you're a singer. I'm a bass player myself (electric and upright) and an arranger, but I learnt a bit of sax to help myself to understand writing for horns better.
Paul and pianist Bill Evans, two of the most lyrical players of all time, played Johnny Mandel's masterpiece at almost every gig to the end of their lives. There are multiple performances on the recent Mosaic set of Paul's Toronto club dates, and on the box sets of Bill Evans's week-long gigs at the Vanguard and Keystone Korner the weeks before he died.
Heard a track today in a coffee bar in town and enquired if they knew who the music was by, as it was just perfection. They did know, and so here I am checking out his legacy to Jazz music. When I realised it was the same guy who had spent years with Brubeck, it was easier to understand why his name was not as well known as it should be.
Along with Webster, Young, Hawkins, Getz, Coltrane, Rollins, Parker, Cannonball, Pepper and more recently Grossman, Berg, Bergonzi and Brecker, Desmond was one of the great masters...like all the above, utterly unique and inimitable...
I met you through your music and I will continue to be your music friend while you rest up 🙏 Rest In Musical Peace and thank you for this signature of purity
LE GRAND GÉNIE DU LYRISME ET LE JAZZ! DOMMAGE QUE SES INTERETS FINANCIERS, ONT PRIS LE DEVANT DE SON LÉGITIME DÉSIR...!!!MERCI POUR LA MAGINIFIQUE VIDEO. DIRECTEMENT DE SALVAOOR-BAHIA = AUTOMN 2023
Same here. Always wondered who he was when Michael Franks mentioned him, same man with Dave B, great musician with outstanding tone. Let me say though that back in the day Michael Franks was smooth himself - all albums up to Blue Pacific I've enjoyed and appreciated!
This song is what I imagine being in love is like. I've never been in a relationship, but I just went on my first successful first date! We are going on a 2nd date next weekend and for the first time I have butterflies I can't explain.
If you have ever heard Paul Desmond playing before, all you need to hear is a few notes to know it is him and not some other saxophone player. I love this as it has a lot of feeling and emotion in it and it was Paul Desmond's tone on the Alto sax that got me started playing the saxophone about a year ago. He is not only my favourite saxophone player of all time, but I always liked his soft, smooth, dry sound, which is the tone I prefer (like Stan Getz had on Tenor and Gerry Mulligan had on his Baritone sax), not the same as the fast bebop, pop or brighter jazz sounds of many other saxophonists had/have. That is not to say there is anything wrong with those styles of course, just not what I like as much compared to this type of sound.
I play alto sax, Paul Desmond is my inspiration to always better myself, one day just maybe I can create a sound so amazing like the great Desmond! Take Five & Ten just sublime and Emily is the cream on the cake
Just gorgeous! This beautiful tune - everything written by Johnny Mandel is beautiful - was also the soundtrack for the film, 'Agatha'. Paul Desmond's treatment? Superb !!
"Emily" was written for the score of "The Americanization of Emily," and it was the best thing about the film. I saw the film in a theater, and Mandel's masterpiece is the only thing I remember about it many years later.
His life was fascinating, at least as told by Doug Ramsey in Ramsey's biography. Desmond was sort of the Don Draper of jazz (mixed with a little bit of the sensibility and looks of Woody Allen of course). He served in the military in Word War II, and worked as a jazz musician in San Francisco (his hometown) at the beginning of the San Francisco Renaissance. He got successful in the mid-1950s, and rich and famous by the mid-1960s, loved his booze, and wooed countless women with his music and charm. As the 1960s progressed, he experimented with LSD, and in the 1970s, he went right along with the times and partook of Bolivan marching powder (though it did not replace his mainstay substances, which were cigarettes and Dewars whiskey). He looked like an accountant his entire adult life, but his lifestyle and interests were hardly conventional. By the early 1970s, Brubeck looked like the kind of guy you might find running a North American ashram, but he was very much the suburban dad and much more of a straight arrow than Desmond ever was. Desmond rode the crest of the post-WWII wave and made his exit in 1977, about the time lots of cultural strands from the mid-century were petering. He died prematurely, but he did a lot of livin' in his 52 years.
Such a lovely Mandel/Mercer ballad... written for the film, "The Americanization of Emily" & Paul Desmond here & Co. is the frosting on the cake... Paul's take on 'When Joanna Loved Me' Jack Segal/Robert Well is but another Desmond classic among many others
And note Paul's mic technique -- he's not "eating" the mic, giving it plenty of space to get the total sound of the horn. As a live sound and recording engineer, I worked with a lot of the greats, and many of the best projected a lot of sound. I didn't get to work with Paul, but guys like Woods, Getz, Mulligan, Slam Stewart, Mark Murphy, and Tony Bennett had VERY big sounds.
He looked like an MIT physics professor, and played like an angel. Every note here is beautiful and perfectly chosen. This isn't talent; it's genius.
LOL!! Agreed!
I had the privilege of hearing him meeting him numerous times. He playing was just like his personality - articulate, witty, thoughtful, creative. All delivered with a gorgeous sound that will never, ever be heard again. Cheers to ya Paul. You are missed.
Exactly SO !! we re thinkIng OF HIM !!( Z All of Us here in,,,, Greece !!
Nailed it.
Is funny you mentón this because this is not the techinque virtuoso we are used to. As you said is another kind of genius a more meticulous and elegante genious that does not need fast tempos to impress.
one wise man speaks the saxophone langauge and everyone understand it from his heart.
I first heard Paul Desmond 58 years ago, still in high school. I had never heard a sound like his before - and never since. Sax played like velvet - - - Thanks Paul - for all the years and all the sounds. May the Lord take as much pleasure in the talent you have as we all did.
He’s in my top five love me some him 🤣
For me it’s been 54 years since my first escort into Desmond’s universe. Ever thankful to my high school band and jazz teacher who brought Dave Brubeck ( w-o Desmond) to meet us, and let us play for him - we, the mighty jazz band of all six of us. Lol. This of course further solidified my interest in Paul Desmond
His tone is just flawless. He has tone,technique, soul, and every emotion you can produce on sax. one of my favorites of all time.
,my scxurvy cock has technique
Perfect # Beautiful tone.His improvisations are like instant compositions.
Very original lyrical. #
There was only ONE PD and only ONE PD sound - gorgeous and beyond.
Agreed!! Beyond genius.
Just that opening line alone really sends me away to a better place, to a better time.
His tone is just so beautiful that you want to cry now that he is gone. I could listen to Emily 1,000 times and never get bored. Just great, period.
A Middle aged bald man With big thick glasses wearing a beige suit is the coolest cat I’ve ever seen or heard, never thought I’d say that but it’s true.
Totally agree. Goes to show that music is about soul and sound, not image. Not that a lot of musical "artists" nowadays get that point.
There will never be a sweeter sound on this earth. Thank you, Mr. Desmond .
This is one of the high peaks of jazz sax, incredible power to move people, just look at his body movements, he's feeling every note. Unsurpassed!
0:34 the best timed jet takeoff in history.
I’d like to think Emily was on that plane, leaving to a far away place for an indeterminate amount of time, and Paul was left back on the tarmac lamenting her departure, with nothing but his sax in his hand.
@@capucine2347 your attitude is what really sucks
You have outdone Leonard Feather.
Yo are so right. 0:34 is a lovely progression. I suspect we will not see his kind again. To be lost so young.
didnt catch that the first time haha
I was sure he was about to quote ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ lol
If you're still listening to this today, you have great taste!
You too...🥂🥂🥂🌹🌹🌹 🎷 🎷 🎷
Paul soars in this rendering of a most beautiful composition. A true original in style and utter sophistication. Long live Pau Desmond.
You said it best
The quintessence of Desmond's wistful play. Simple, pure and extremely melodious. The DBQ was blessed by the gods : two geniuses, with Joseph Morello and Paul Desmond. Too much for Paul who left for a second career with beautiful recordings and concerts like this one in the Montreux jazz festival. Superb.
Has anyone ever played the Alto sax more perfectly? Lilting, exquisite, calming. Rest in peace Paul Desmond.
Me
Charlie Parker is the best alto sax player ever !!!
Always enjoy listening to Paul Desmond.
Paul was the PERFECTION of alto.
I always like and envy at the same time his way of playing!
What about Charlie Parker ?
Notice the self-satisfying little smile after he quotes "Would You" at around 2:20. He was a true master of using quotes, because unlike many other players he often slipped them in and it could take several listenings before you realized he did it.
Terrific points. I interviewed Dave Brubeck and he mentioned how Paul would often tell the story of his day in these little quotes in musical code.
He probably did that way more than most mortals would know. I think he knew everything he ever heard.
Sweet, delicate and soulful. My favorite alto player.
I loved this song and the way Paul Desmond is playing.
Felicity !! He is an angel of music.
These heavenly melodies had not existed on this earth before, was generated there at that moment, and overflowed from his golden saxophone.
Paul Desmond simply the sweetest alto ever! One of a kind and great!
He admired Charlie Parker but created his own style no one can imitate. Genius!
Paul Desmond, still my favorite to listen to of most sax players. I can tolerate it both on a conscious and subconscious level without going crazy. Just nice. Thank you Paul. :)
The Master. Pure genius. Simply the best of the best.
Who could play an alto more smoothly and beautifully than Paul Desmond? No one! What lyrical silk!
K Lewis is this type of playing ever going to come back in style???
He doesn't play the sax .....he plays his soul !
Stan Getz and Ben Webster
Brojoni Miles I’m working on it give me some time :D
Absolutely touching and elegant. Paul Desmond was a very kind man with a great sense of humour. Listening to his sax is like listening to somebody telling stories.
Best part is from 0:00-4:59
Wonderful comment!
Worst part is - he's not here anymore. One of my favourite videos on UA-cam.
How could anything be more perfect than this. Paul, you left us with pure beauty.
Beautifully put.
Every one of his improvisations sounds like a fully thought out and prepared composition!
I was at the concert it was Monterey & the United air flight flew extra low to show the passengers the gig Paul could sooth any savage beast he had the gift of COOL.
There must be, and have been, tens of thousands of alto sax players in the world - but after listening to just the first few notes - we know, that is Paul Desmond. The spirits of these kind of people landed on earth from some far off galaxy.
+hommefriday
And seem to have all gone back to that galaxy....
yeah righton! jumped in the car the other day bit stressesd, turned on some jazz radio- on came Paul Desmond Skylark changed my day completely. Never ever get tired of his tone and mastery of the instrument.
When one can more-or-less immediately recognise a sax player by their tone, that's how you know they are one of the "greats."
@@caddelworth www euro millions numbers the mar 23
Dear Paul, so glad you came...
The Best Alto Sax player Paul Desmond.♫♪♫♫ Beautiful tune. Sweet and soothing !!! Thanks.
Beauty beyond description. I never tire of listening to Paul Desmond.
Just absolutely astounding.
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams
This video should serve for "modern" alto saxophone students as a lesson, as this is the Alpha and Omega of alto saxophone science in it's highest Level. No one compares to Paul. A wonderful tune, beautiful Interpretation.
I love this kind of tone on the alto as much as I detest the honking, 70s cop show tone (married to minor pentatonic clichés and funk rhythms).
My current favorite alto player. Melody for days from this guy. Beautiful and honest, without an ounce of pretense.
This is like falling in love. Wow, I am breathless.
Smoothest sax tone I've ever heard 🎷
Paul Desmond was just the best. He donated all proceeds from “Take Five” to the American Red Cross and his sax to Dave Brubeck’s son when he died, just a short time after this was filmed. I believe he had that super sweet, soft tone from learning the clarinet first. And his range was vast. My favorite horn player of all time.
One of the most sensual, articulate examples of Paul Desmond's amazing range. 1:40 - 1:50... magnificent.
Mike J Yes, indeed.
Having goosebumps listening to this part, over and over again. Another example also between 2:08 to 2:18
Very smooth ...... almost sounds like a clarinet, Paul Desmond is amazing.
Only a clarinet trained sax player can sound this smooth...wonderful.
Indeed .......
He did play the clarinet at one point. I would love to hear some recordings with him on the clarinet. That said, with Paul, we hear the sound of a soul more than that of an instrument.
That’s so true!!!
Jazzman zero clarinet
Love that song. His rendition puts lots of soulfulness into his play.
This Guy had awesome air control on beautiful performance !!! love it.
My favorite sax player on my favorite jazz song... nice.
me too... at he moment...
Yes, mine too. No doubt.
This makes me want to pick up an alto too! Never played any horns before, only piano… I will probably never sound like Paul Desmond, but it is still very inspiring!
Playing the sax also helps your phrasing if you're a singer. I'm a bass player myself (electric and upright) and an arranger, but I learnt a bit of sax to help myself to understand writing for horns better.
Just to make you feel better, nobody will ever sound like Desmond.
Do it.
@@Khayyam-vg9fw And conversely, sax players are encouraged to listens to singers to help with their sax phrasing.
Mr.Elegance. So perfect! My favourite
Paul's tone was so beautiful
Paul and pianist Bill Evans, two of the most lyrical players of all time, played Johnny Mandel's masterpiece at almost every gig to the end of their lives. There are multiple performances on the recent Mosaic set of Paul's Toronto club dates, and on the box sets of Bill Evans's week-long gigs at the Vanguard and Keystone Korner the weeks before he died.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing :)
Heard a track today in a coffee bar in town and enquired if they knew who the music was by, as it was just perfection. They did know, and so here I am checking out his legacy to Jazz music. When I realised it was the same guy who had spent years with Brubeck, it was easier to understand why his name was not as well known as it should be.
Along with Webster, Young, Hawkins, Getz, Coltrane, Rollins, Parker, Cannonball, Pepper and more recently Grossman, Berg, Bergonzi and Brecker, Desmond was one of the great masters...like all the above, utterly unique and inimitable...
The sublime master at work...R.I.P... Thanks Paul...
I met you through your music and I will continue to be your music friend while you rest up 🙏 Rest In Musical Peace and thank you for this signature of purity
There will not be another like him in 200 years. Perfection.
Paul Desmond was a God kiss for the likes of us................
なんて優しくて美しい音なんだろう。
涙が溢れてくる。
LE GRAND GÉNIE DU LYRISME ET LE JAZZ! DOMMAGE QUE SES INTERETS FINANCIERS, ONT PRIS LE DEVANT DE SON LÉGITIME DÉSIR...!!!MERCI POUR LA MAGINIFIQUE VIDEO. DIRECTEMENT DE SALVAOOR-BAHIA = AUTOMN 2023
I could listen him play all day long. Love you Paul.
The consummate master of his instrument. Perfection.
Absolutely incredible - out of this world.
Magnificent beyond words.5!!!!
Paul Desmond I still enjoy to listen o you. Perfect !
I came here because I heard "Paul Desmond on the stereo" in Michael Franks' Rainy Night in Tokyo. Wow, this is magical.
WOW. just made that connection. Another absolutely beautiful song. Clearly more than a little influence there.
Same here. Always wondered who he was when Michael Franks mentioned him, same man with Dave B, great musician with outstanding tone. Let me say though that back in the day Michael Franks was smooth himself - all albums up to Blue Pacific I've enjoyed and appreciated!
Lyrical, musical, inventive.......and that tone!
Marvellous - never to be forgotten
me encanta con mis 16 años adoro esta musica agarro mi saxoffon y me pongo a recrear esatas bellas melodias creadas por estos impresionantes artistas
wow...perfect! Impressed in 2020..
Extraordinary ! he was born to play alto.
💞💞Paul Desmond💞💞
This song is what I imagine being in love is like. I've never been in a relationship, but I just went on my first successful first date! We are going on a 2nd date next weekend and for the first time I have butterflies I can't explain.
Happy for you :)
Simply Beautiful music
So beautiful.
His playing is like an intimate conversation in an empty club after a year of isolation.
Desmond once described his sound as being like a dry martini - perfect! I think I'm going to have one of those right now
If you have ever heard Paul Desmond playing before, all you need to hear is a few notes to know it is him and not some other saxophone player. I love this as it has a lot of feeling and emotion in it and it was Paul Desmond's tone on the Alto sax that got me started playing the saxophone about a year ago. He is not only my favourite saxophone player of all time, but I always liked his soft, smooth, dry sound, which is the tone I prefer (like Stan Getz had on Tenor and Gerry Mulligan had on his Baritone sax), not the same as the fast bebop, pop or brighter jazz sounds of many other saxophonists had/have. That is not to say there is anything wrong with those styles of course, just not what I like as much compared to this type of sound.
¡Qué genio, no me canso de escucharlo! Un saludo al más allá Mr. Desmond.
I play alto sax, Paul Desmond is my inspiration to always better myself, one day just maybe I can create a sound so amazing like the great Desmond! Take Five & Ten just sublime and Emily is the cream on the cake
Sublime playing that has it all. Jet sound is even cool too!
UNIQUE. A "One Off". One of the truly great musicians of yesterday year.
Great lyrical improvisation plus most beautiful tone....perfect.
the sound of the airplane........beautiful
pure beauty
Que belleza!!!
Just gorgeous! This beautiful tune - everything written by Johnny Mandel is beautiful - was also the soundtrack for the film, 'Agatha'. Paul Desmond's treatment? Superb !!
"Emily" was written for the score of "The Americanization of Emily," and it was the best thing about the film. I saw the film in a theater, and Mandel's masterpiece is the only thing I remember about it many years later.
This brings me back to my happiest memories, filled with beauty and meaning
Gorgeous
Paul Desmond le plus grand (alto) du JAZZ USA
Merci !
R.
Ty 4 posting love the sound of the airplane flying over as he performs
Nobody improvises as beautiful as Paul Desmond! I use present tense cuz his music lives on
The only man able to sound like a dry martini...
Oswaldo Goit
Greatest alto sax player ever!
I'm a jazz player and getting into cocktails and this is so right
David DuBois yes indeed
One of the few alto players that make me question whether I like tenor better.
SO good!
Like an angel's whisper.
His life was fascinating, at least as told by Doug Ramsey in Ramsey's biography. Desmond was sort of the Don Draper of jazz (mixed with a little bit of the sensibility and looks of Woody Allen of course). He served in the military in Word War II, and worked as a jazz musician in San Francisco (his hometown) at the beginning of the San Francisco Renaissance. He got successful in the mid-1950s, and rich and famous by the mid-1960s, loved his booze, and wooed countless women with his music and charm. As the 1960s progressed, he experimented with LSD, and in the 1970s, he went right along with the times and partook of Bolivan marching powder (though it did not replace his mainstay substances, which were cigarettes and Dewars whiskey).
He looked like an accountant his entire adult life, but his lifestyle and interests were hardly conventional. By the early 1970s, Brubeck looked like the kind of guy you might find running a North American ashram, but he was very much the suburban dad and much more of a straight arrow than Desmond ever was. Desmond rode the crest of the post-WWII wave and made his exit in 1977, about the time lots of cultural strands from the mid-century were petering. He died prematurely, but he did a lot of livin' in his 52 years.
Qué maravilla. Daría mucho por viajar en el tiempo y poder estar allí.
How wonderful, thanks Roger B - made my day
Such a lovely Mandel/Mercer ballad... written for the film, "The Americanization of Emily" & Paul Desmond here & Co. is the frosting on the cake... Paul's take on 'When Joanna Loved Me' Jack Segal/Robert Well is but another Desmond classic among many others
Magnifico, precioso tono,el maestro Desmond soplaba armonías magistrales.. 🎷
For you youngsters: the picture-in-a-picture at 2:40 was state of the art live video processing back in the 70s
And note Paul's mic technique -- he's not "eating" the mic, giving it plenty of space to get the total sound of the horn. As a live sound and recording engineer, I worked with a lot of the greats, and many of the best projected a lot of sound. I didn't get to work with Paul, but guys like Woods, Getz, Mulligan, Slam Stewart, Mark Murphy, and Tony Bennett had VERY big sounds.
how can anyone give this masterpiece a thumbs down
No.1 for me!!
The beginning, middle and end of the textbook; "How to play the saxophone"
Like.. :)