Customer Reviews

Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond

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If you have, like me, have been wondering for years why no one has written a biography of Paul Desmond before now (Desmond died over a quarter of a century ago), and if you are, like me, a long term fan of his music, then--again, like me--you will probably be both thrilled and disappointed by this book.

The only thing really wrong with it is...it just isn't enough. What is there is wonderful--especially a treasure trove of letters to and from Desmond and his father, from which Ramsey pulls long passages. The photos, too, are terrific, with many pictures of Desmond as a youth, and throughout his career. Most importantly, his early life in music is extraordinarily well documented. Ramsey has really done his homework here.

Sadly, though, his mature working life (mostly with the Dave Brubeck Quartet)is given very short shrift. I don't know whether the information was not available, or whether Mr. Ramsey just got tired of the research and writing and wanted to get the book out; but the end result is that we have almost no story of Desmond's many concert tours or studio sessions.

For example the DBQ's trip through Eastern Europe (musically recorded as "Jazz Impressions of Eurasia" is not covered in any depth, and DBQ's trip to Japan, from which came the wonderful album. "Jazz Impressions of Japan," is not mentioned at all. Nor is there any mention of how the songs on these albums came to be written or recorded.

What was a practice session with the Quartet like? We are not told. What happened in the studio, what was the give and take? WE have no idea. In fact, we get very little insight into the life and music of Desmond the recording artist in the studio, or the man and his music on the road.

WE also do not have much in the way of his evaluation by the critics or other musicians. True, the commentaries of the musicians he worked closely with have been searched out, but I would have expected more anecdotes about other players comments. True -there are several solo transcriptions and commentaries by musicians and scholars but these do little to give us and idea of how other musicians

Even more annoying is Ramsey's tendency to quote himself, from liner notes and reviews, and to also quote liberally from already published material. If you've tried to read everything you can find about Desmond, then you've already read a sizeable chunk of the book in other sources.

Still, I suppose it is rare that the first biography of a great public figure is also exhaustive. This book will be like a delicious slice of cake. The only sad part is you can't have another, not yet, at any rate.

Paul Desmond was once one of the most well-known figures of jazz, stemming from his fame with "Take Five" and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. And with all his mysteries, self-destructive habits and enigmatic qualities, it seems like he would be the perfect subject for a biography. So it's a bit of a shock that "The Public & Private Lives of Paul Desmond" is his first and only biography and appears nearly thirty years after his death.

Luckily, many of his contemporaries, friends, and fellow musicians like Jim Hall and Dave Brubeck are still around so author and Paul's one-time friend Doug Ramsey does a pretty solid job here getting their take on the man. Ramsey also leans heavily on dozens of writings Desmond left behind so you get a extremely personal look at how Paul lived, worked and saw the world.

In terms of drawbacks, however, there are many. Ramsey seems to rely almost exclusively on letters at times as if he couldn't be bothered to dig deeper (for instance, Paul's childhood is particularly sketchy and has several gaps). I was really looking forward to this book because I'm a huge fan of the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet and detailed stories on them are surprisingly few and far between. And Ramsey does do a strong job developing the Brubeck/Desmond tandem and their various quartets - until 1958 that is. Then Ramsey tends to gloss over most of the classic Quartet's albums and much of their history. For instance, why did clarinetist Bill Smith sub for Paul on several albums? Why did Dave keep Paul in the group when he became unreliable and began missing concert dates? And just how did the classic Quartet work together in the studio? Ramsey doesn't always tell us.

There's a lot of patchwork here. Ramsey throws a lot of things into the mix like concert reviews, articles, some extraneous reviews of Desmond songs by other musicians, etc. so sometimes the book doesn't quite gel. And will someone please tell Doug to give it a rest with the grandstanding? There's several pictures of Doug, several past articles and reviews by Doug, and a monster author bio of Doug that could be a book in itself!

I'm also assuming Parkside Publications was really rushing it with the production on this book because there are spelling mistakes all over the place. Coming from a publishing background, I probably noticed more than most - but there was at least one or two every few pages. It doesn't spoil your reading of the book certainly, and the generous photos and layout are fantastic, but c'mon, all those mistakes are just embarrassing.

However, Ramsey's limitations don't take away from the fact that Paul Desmond's story is simply fascinating, and this was a book I didn't want to end. (Even more so given the scant books out there on Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck, the whole classic Quartet era, and the unlikely possibility there are more on the horizon.) In the end, it uncovers a man that was funny, intriguing, secretive, multi-faceted, and in many ways, very sad considering he died relatively young with so much left unanswered, and was really beginning to come into his own musically after a prolonged creative dry spell. And maybe Paul Desmond's a forgotten man today. But Ramsey's book makes a strong case that he doesn't deserve to be.

"Take Five" offers a huge amout of historical information about Paul Desmond. It is beautifully illustrated, with photos, copies of letters, and a few transcriptions of solos. It is a large, heavy, coffee table book.
Don't expect a flowing, narrative biography of Desmond's life. This book is more a collection of chronologically organized facts and extensive quotations. A great resource for anyone interested in Desmond, but it reads more like a research volume than an absorbing biography of a wonderful musician.

After reading this book from cover to cover, I thought that Matt Schudel's editorial piece was a bit harsh. The book illuminates Desmond's life far beyond what most jazz fans can glean from the meager pickings of liner notes. I would have to say that Desmond emerges from the pages as a complex, intensely private, humorous individual, with a personality that maintains the reader's steady interest. At times, the book doesn't flow all that easily and, though the layout is superb, there are many text boxes that are a challenge for the eyes. There are also copies of sheet music that will add content for those who read music and nothing for those who don't. On balance, I enjoyed the book and feel I was rewarded with a much better understanding of this unique talent. I found it to be an entertaining read. The quality of the book itself (i.e. the paper, the photos, the layout) is certainly worth the price.

Doug Ramsey paints a vibrant, even voluminous picture of Desmond in this wonderful book, the most compelling picture of an artist I've ever read. Never in my reading has a biographer captured so completely the essence of a personality. In this book, you can feel Desmond's distinctive vibes: his tranquility, his humor, his warmth, his intelligence. You can even smell his cigarette smoke and taste the Dewar's. I am so grateful for this superb fleshing out of an important jazz artist. It couldn't have been done without the personal connection between Ramsey and Desmond, of course; one cannot underestimate the value to us fans and readers of that privileged intimacy. The only mystery remaining in the man is the one he left us all with, revealing its content not even to his friends and intimates. But that's a small price to pay for the huge picture I now possess of this curious and brilliant man. If I have a single criticism of the book, it is that no CD number is given for the Carnegie Hall concert of 1963! Thanks for the book, Doug.

This is a very well-written and fascinating account of Paul's life. It is perhaps over-burdened with photographs and the size and weight are a little too much. But it is worth these slight drawbacks to get an accurate and positive picture of one of the great alto sax men of all time. His years with Dave Brubeck and his recordings without Dave are well documented and some sheets of music of some of his solos are included. Paul was one of the three or so(others:Konitz, Pepper) alto sax players who did not imitate Charles Parker. His private life (so many girls, so little time) and his close relationship with his musician-composer father make the story very real. I put a "Pure Desmond" CD on the player and sipped a dry martini with this book.

As a jazz fan all of my (long) adult life, I thought I was quite conversant with the lives of the jazz greats. Not so with Paul Desmond. This bio, the size of a coffee table book, superbly traces his life as a student of all musical genres, of his intense desire to achieve perfection in his own playing and in his compositions. It covers his early doubts regarding a career in writing rather than music; his periods of self doubt and introspection. A major revelation to me was that success might not have come to him or to Dave Brubeck if they had not discovered each other. They read each others musical minds on the fly making for some of the most delightful jazz ever.

And the book tells it all with many, many quotes from those who knew Paul well.

This is an imposing book in a number of ways. First, the subject matter. Second, it is physically large, almost 12 inches square and containing nearly 400 pages. It's beautifully designed and printed with many photos - the cover photo is particularly emotive.
Doug Ramsey has researched Paul Desmond's life in great depth, literally from cradle to grave. What emerges is a portrait of a publically acclaimed musical genius and an intensely private man.
I saw Paul Desmond in London in 1958 when he was with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Fifty three years later I'm still a fan!
If you have an interest in Paul Desmond, buy this wonderful book.

A very interesting and complete biography of this brilliant musician.
It let us inside his very private life. He had a very wicked wit although
he was self deprecating.

I great book. I plan to keep it on my coffee table. It's more than about Paul. It's about Brubeck and the rest of the great musicians in that era-1950 to 1970 or so.