[5] Ted Gioia and Lee Konitz have each identified cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer as early progenitors of the cool aesthetic in jazz.

[6][7] Gioia cites Beiderbecke's softening of jazz's strong rhythmic impact in favor of maintaining melodic flow, while also employing complex techniques such as unusual harmonies and whole tone scales.

[6] Trumbauer, through "his smooth and seemingly effortless saxophone work,"[6] greatly affected tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who prefigured – and influenced – cool jazz more than any other musician.

[3] Young's saxophone playing employed a light sound,[6][8]: 684–685  in contrast to the "full-bodied" approach of players such as Coleman Hawkins.

Its stylistic origins can be traced to Claude Thornhill's big band, which utilized clarinets, French horns, and tubas.

[12] The Miles Davis Nonet's existence was brief, consisting only of a two-week September 1948 engagement at the Manhattan's Royal Roost and the three recording dates that make up Birth of the Cool.

[10] John Lewis went on to co-found the Modern Jazz Quartet, who incorporated classical forms, such as the fugue, in their music.

In New York, pianist Lennie Tristano and saxophonist Lee Konitz developed a "somewhat atonal cerebral alternative to bop which concentrated on linear improvisation and interweaving rhythmic complexities".

[10] In a 2013 interview, Konitz noted that "the blues never connected with me," and further explained "I knew and loved Charlie Parker and copied his bebop solos like everyone else.

[10] Drummer Chico Hamilton led an ensemble that – unusually for a jazz group – included a cellist, Fred Katz.

As it often refers to Gerry Mulligan and his associates in California, "west coast" merely becomes synonymous with "cool," although Lester Young, Claude Thornhill, and Miles Davis were based in New York.

[14] Conversely, David H. Rosenthal sees the development of hard bop as a response to both a perceived decline in bebop and the rise of rhythm and blues.

Ted Gioia has noted that some of the artists associated with the ECM label during the 1970s are direct stylistic heirs of cool jazz.

[6] While these musicians may not sound similar to earlier cool artists, they share the same values:clarity of expression; subtlety of meaning; a willingness to depart from the standard rhythms of hot jazz and learn from other genres of music; a preference for emotion rather than mere emoting; progressive ambitions and a tendency to experiment; above all, a dislike for bombast.