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

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

When I first encountered him in 1996, he was in New York, playing cool jazz with all the heart of his animated alter-ego.

From The Daily Beast