cool jazz

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cool jazz¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

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

Steeped in American roots music, 1950s cool jazz and the musical openness of Don Cherry, it never feels settled but almost always seems centered on a search for shared comfort.

From New York Times

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

Sly but energetic, Tabackin’s sax playing has always called back to the swing era, reaching through cool jazz and bebop on the way there.

From New York Times

Her “cool jazz” friends from the Brit School showed her some chords.

From The Guardian