Desmond's mother, born Shirley King, was of an Irish Catholic family. The Breitenfeld family in Bohemia and Vienna featured musicians in every generation throughout the 1800s, 1900s, and to the present day. However, Fred Barton, songwriter/arranger and Desmond's cousin, found extensive genealogical proof that both the Breitenfeld and Löwy families were Bohemian Jews. Paul Desmond and members of his father's family "frequently speculated as to whether Sigmund or Hermine Breitenfeld had Jewish backgrounds", but they did not identify as Jewish, or observe Jewish traditions. They had four children (including Emil, father of Paul Emil). His grandfather Sigmund Breitenfeld, a medical doctor, was born in Austria in 1857 he and wife Hermine (née Lewy) emigrated to the US at the end of the 19th century. After years of chain smoking and poor health, Desmond succumbed to lung cancer in 1977 after a tour with Brubeck.ĭesmond was born Paul Emil Breitenfeld in San Francisco, California, in 1924, the son of Shirley (née King) and Emil Aron Breitenfeld. In addition to his work with Brubeck, he led several groups and collaborated with Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Jim Hall, and Ed Bickert. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed that group's biggest hit, " Take Five". Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld Novem– May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer and proponent of cool jazz.
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