Desmond was born in San Francisco, California, and began playing the clarinet at age 13. He switched to the saxophone in high school and played in several bands before joining Brubeck's quartet in 1951.
With the Brubeck Quartet, Desmond recorded some of the most popular and successful jazz albums of the 1950s and 1960s, including "Time Out" (1959), which featured Desmond's composition "Take Five".
Desmond left the Brubeck Quartet in 1967 and recorded several albums as a leader before his death in 1977.
Desmond was known for his cool and understated playing style, which was often compared to that of Stan Getz. He was also a gifted composer and wrote many of the Brubeck Quartet's most popular songs, including "Take Five", "Blue Rondo a la Turk", and "Unsquare Dance".
Desmond was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1991.