Artist: Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer and proponent of cool jazz. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed that group's biggest hit, "Take Five".

Desmond met Dave Brubeck in 1944 in the military. The Dave Brubeck Quartet began in 1951 and ended in December 1967. The quartet became especially popular with college-age audiences, often performing in college settings, including their ground-breaking 1953 album Jazz at Oberlin  at Oberlin College and at the campuses of Ohio University and the University of Michigan. The success of the quartet led to a Time magazine piece on them in 1954, with the famous cover featuring Brubeck's face. 

After drummer Joe Dodge decided to leave the group, Joe Morello joined in late 1956 with Desmond's recommendation. Yet with different musical aspirations and tastes, their relationship was full of tension. Desmond hoped for a "tinky-boom" background-type drummer while Morello wanted to be recognized and featured. During Morello's first performance with the group, he was featured by Brubeck and received an ovation from the audience for his solo. Desmond resented this and threatened to leave the group. Brubeck managed to keep both Desmond and Morello in the group but with friction between them for years. In their later years they reconciled and became close friends. 

The Dave Brubeck Quartet played until 1967, when Brubeck switched his musical focus from performance to composition and dissolved the group. During the 1970s Desmond joined Brubeck for several reunion tours, including "Two Generations of Brubeck". Accompanying them were Brubeck's sons Chris Brubeck, Dan Brubeck and Darius Brubeck. In 1976 Desmond played 25 shows in 25 nights with Brubeck, touring the United States by bus. 

Desmond and baritone saxophonist and band leader Gerry Mulligan made two studio albums together, Gerry Mulligan - Paul Desmond Quartet  (1957), and Two of a Mind (1962)). During Brubeck's Two Generations tours, Desmond and Mulligan shared the stage in 1974.