swap_horiz Paul Desmond Alternatives

1

Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker was a highly influential American jazz musician primarily known for his innovative contributions to bebop...

Virtuoso Modern Classic Bebop

9.9 Brilliant

2

Miles Davis

Miles Davis (1926-1991) was an influential American trumpeter and composer pivotal in shaping modern jazz. His innovativ...

Classic Fusion Cool Modal

9.9 Brilliant

3

Ornette Coleman

Ornette Coleman was a pioneering American jazz musician primarily known for his innovative approach to saxophone and com...

Composer Classic Avant Garde Free Jazz

9.5 Brilliant

4

Cannonball Adderley

Cannonball Adderley was an American alto saxophonist linked to hard bop and soul jazz, heard on Miles Davis's 1959 album...

Classic Hard Bop Funky Soul Jazz

9.3 Excellent

5

Gil Evans

Gil Evans was a Canadian-born arranger and pianist whose orchestral writing shaped Miles Davis projects such as Birth of...

Classic Arranger Orchestral Piano

9.3 Excellent

6

Ahmad Jamal

Ahmad Jamal was an American jazz pianist whose spacious trio style influenced Miles Davis; At the Pershing: But Not for...

Classic Space Piano Cool

9.2 Excellent

7

Eric Dolphy

Eric Dolphy was an American multi-instrumentalist whose 1964 Blue Note album Out to Lunch became a landmark of avant-gar...

Classic Avant Garde Flute Alto Sax

9.2 Excellent

8

Stan Getz

Stan Getz was an American tenor saxophonist famed for his warm tone and for popularizing bossa nova with the 1964 hit Th...

Classic Lyrical Cool Tenor Sax

9.2 Excellent

9

Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan was an American baritone saxophonist and arranger, central to cool jazz and co-leader of a piano-less qua...

Composer Classic Cool West Coast

9.2 Excellent

10

Benny Carter

Benny Carter was an American alto saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and arranger whose career spanned from 1920s swing i...

Classic Arranger Swing Trumpet

9.2 Excellent

11

Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck was an American jazz pianist and composer whose quartet popularized unusual meters with the 1959 album Time...

Classic Piano Cool West Coast

9.2 Excellent

12

Lester Young

Lester Young was a U.S. tenor saxophonist whose relaxed phrasing with Count Basie in the 1930s became a model for cool j...

Classic Swing Cool Tenor Sax

9.1 Excellent

13

Bix Beiderbecke

Bix Beiderbecke was a U.S. cornetist noted for a lyrical 1920s style that influenced jazz improvisers despite his early...

Classic Chicago Cool Early Jazz

8.8 Great

14

Jackie McLean

Jackie McLean was an American alto saxophonist whose 1963 Blue Note album Let Freedom Ring fused hard bop with modal and...

Classic Avant Garde Hard Bop Blue Note

8.8 Great

15

Johnny Hodges

Johnny Hodges was a U.S. alto saxophonist whose creamy tone and blues phrasing made him a signature soloist in Duke Elli...

Classic Lyrical Swing Duke Ellington

8.7 Great

16

Mel Torme

Mel Torme was an American jazz singer, drummer, and songwriter, nicknamed the Velvet Fog and co-writer of The Christmas...

Classic Swing Cool Vocals

8.4 Great

17

Phil Woods

Phil Woods was an American alto saxophonist and clarinetist, a multiple Grammy winner and 2007 NEA Jazz Master linked to...

Classic Swing Bebop Alto Sax

8.4 Great

18

Zoot Sims

Zoot Sims was an American tenor saxophonist linked to the cool and swing traditions, and a member of Woody Herman's Seco...

Classic Swing Cool Tenor Sax

8.3 Great

19

George Shearing

George Shearing was a British-born jazz pianist who created the Shearing quintet sound and composed the 1952 jazz standa...

Classic Piano Cool Quintet

8.3 Great

20

Barney Kessel

Barney Kessel was an American jazz guitarist known for the Oscar Peterson Trio and for extensive Los Angeles studio work...

Classic Guitar Session Swing

8.3 Great