From the cool JazzProfessional website, here are five interviews with the iconic alto saxophonist Paul Desmond conducted by Les Tompkins. As always, Desmond is classy, funny, and articulate throughout. “The personality of Paul Desmond” and ”The jazz audience” are from 1963, with “Back in the crook”, “Giant jazzman, gentle wit…”, and “Sax viewpoint” from 1972. Additionally there is a special tribute story from the time of Desmond’s death in 1977, and a page of Desmond quotes. 

From the first interview, Desmond on practicing:

“I feel the necessity for practice, but the results don’t generally justify it. I have a tendency to get bugged by some small thing when I start practising and do one of those Stephen Laycock retroactive bits for five or six hours, ending up playing one interval and working on the intonation or something. After about four hours I come to the job and I can’t play a note! So I’m really better off without practising. I either have to just make it playing the job or forget it. There isn’t time then to get introspective or critical and tear anything apart. You just have to keep going.”

 Click here to read Five Paul Desmond interviews and some extras

—Peter Blasevick