Paul Desmond wrote "Take Five," one of the most recognizable jazz melodies in the world, while joking that he was the world's slowest saxophone player. Born Paul Breitenfeld in San Francisco in 1924 to a working musician father and a mother with severe mental health struggles, he was sent to live with relatives in New York for nearly five years, was talked out of the violin by his father, took up clarinet at 12, and studied English at San Francisco State, a literary background this deep dive links to the narrative structure of his solos.

The episode covers his Army band years, changing his name after hearing singer Johnny Desmond, his sabotage of and cinematic backyard reconciliation with Dave Brubeck, the contract that named Brubeck leader but guaranteed Desmond 20 percent of the quartet's profits, and the "tinky boom" grudge against drumm ...