Themes
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Collection Themes Songs Chronology | |
JAZZ ARCHIVE | ||||||||||
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CD #1
from: CHUBBY JACKSON
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from: COMPLETE PACIFIC JAZZ
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| from: FANTASY 3-6
from: COMPLETE PACIFIC JAZZ
| CD #2
from: TENTETTE | from: Gene Norman Presents 3
| Chet Baker, Larry Bunker, Gerry Mulligan, Carson Smith, - May 7, 1953 | see:LIONEL HAMPTON - CANNES
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LINER NOTES |
GERRY MULLIGAN JERU Gerry Mulligan was one of the most prominent and adaptive artists in modern jazz. He is seen as one of the most significant jazz baritone saxophonists and is probably also the most famous one. But perhaps Mulligan 's reputation would be better described as that of a writer, one who is capable of great organization of arrangements, and a leader of the best caliber. He was considered as a wonderful catalyst for his bands, because his musicians and coworkers loved to work with him, and actually played better when they were with Mulligan. Artists who consider Mulligan with great regard range from Miles Davis, Rex Stewart, and George Russell to Paul Desmond. Mulligan became well-known for composing and arranging scores for big-bands with low dynamics, subtle swing and balanced timbres. This can be seen in such records as "Jeru", "Godchild", and "Venus de Milo". He later used these qualities for his famous pianoless quartets and sextets, which allowed his brass section to really improvise in the absence of a piano. Some of his best works are recordings done with such pianoless quartets, with such great artists as Chet Baker, Bob Brookmever, and Paul Desmond. With the last, Mulligan shared a great ability for improvising countermelody. Mulligan 's reputation was of being an arranger of great subtlety and versatility. His ability to swing at any register and his wonderful sense of melody made him such a good arranger. Another important aspect of Mulligan 's work was his use of very moderate volume. He felt that he did not need to impress the audience through the loudness of his band. As a performer, Mulligan also had a driving rhythm, which made people call him the Zoot Sims of the baritone sax. Considering the clumsy and awkward nature of his instrument, there is probably no better compliment than that which can be given to him. Mulligan helped create a new jazz idiom that was part of the cool jazz movement. But labeling him only as a cool saxophonist is too restrictive. He was a highly versatile artist in any aspect of his work, be it as performer or writer. He was also a very flexible and adaptive arranger, able to use any type of idiom in any setting of his choosing. Mulligan also appeared in an impressive list of films. These include "I Want To Live" and "The Subterraneans". Mulligan has been quoted as saying "Jazz music is fun to me". In whatever he was involved in, the basic premise of any of Mulligan 's work was the pleasure he and his band took in playing music. Mulligan believed that jazz was a music that needed to be played, not "be intellectualized on", as he called it. The saxophonist's versatility also showed in the various recordings he has done with musicians he admired including such different artists as Thelonious Monk and Astor Piazzolla. Mulligan is considered as one of the few musicians who helped shape the evolution of jazz significantly. He earned numerous awards to his credit as a musician and promoter of jazz. He won a Grammy for "Walk on the Water", the Connecticut Arts Award in 1982, the Viotti Prize in 1984, and the Yale University Duke Ellington Fellowship in 1988. He was also placed in the Philadelphia Music Association Hall of Fame in 1990. Throughout his career, Mulligan won the baritone saxophone category of various fan and critic polls of the "Down Beat", "Metronome" and "Playboy°, as well as of many foreign magazines. He was also the subject of the documentary "Listen: Gerry Mulligan" by Thor Raxlen in 1996. FROM THE OCARINA TO THE BARITONE Gerald Joseph Mulligan, also knows as Jeru, was born on 6 April 1927 in Queens Village, Long Island in New York City. The great baritone saxophonist, arranger, and leader actually started up with such instruments as the ocarina and the ukulele. Later, he added the clarinet and alto, tenor,and baritone saxophone to his repertory. Since his parents played the piano he also took piano lessons but seldom played in public. Mulligan 's father was a management engineer, whose job required a high degree of traveling. So Mulligan spent much of his childhood traveling between many different towns in Ohio and Michigan. He recalled that the real beginning of his career happened while living in Marion, Ohio. He was only in the second or third grade, and while on his way to school one day he saw the tour bus of Tucker, and Red Nichols parked in front of a hotel. When he saw the banner "RED NICHOLS AND HIS FIVE PENNIES", the young Mulligan could feel adventure and travel that must have been associated with that sign and that bus. He decided then and there to become a musician so that he could go on road trips with his own band and bus. Mulligan' s decision to become a musician, especially a jazz musician, was not really received with great pleasure. In fact, the very first arrangement that he made for his school band in Michigan was rejected. The song he had worked on, "Lover", was deemed as being inappropriate material for the school band. When he was fourteen, Mulligan then briefly considered becoming a church priest, but when he realized how the church music scene worked, decided to give up that idea. The first person to encourage him in his decision to become a jazz artist was a dance-band musician named Sammy Correnti, with whom Mulligan studied the clarinet and the basics of arranging. At this time, his family had finally settled in Philadelphia in 1944 after much moving around the country. But these classes did not amount to much so that Mulligan was mostly a self-taught arranger. He later studied quite informally with John Warrington and Gill Evans. In high school, Mulligan formed a dance band and successfully sold two arrangements to the radio house band of the station WCAU, led by John Warrington. Mulligan soon decided to leave school when he received the chance to go on tour with one of the bands he had been playing in. Unfortunately, that did not materialize. So Mulligan went to find a job arranging, landed a thirteen-week contract with Tommy Tucker, and started touring with him. During his tours with Tucker, Mulligan got the chance to listen to Billy Eckstine and his band. He was so impressed and influenced by what he heard that he changed his arranging style significantly. This did not really go down well with Tucker, who was more strict and conservative in his musical taste. So he decided to let Mulligan go after his contract ended. Then Mulligan returned to Philadelphia once more and found a regular job at WCAU as the house band arranger, which was now led by Elliot Lawrence. Then in the mid-40s, Mulligan gained more experience playing and touring with several bands. Between 1944 and 1945, he performed with Harvey Marburger and Chuck Gordon. In 1945, he played with Alex Bartha and George Paxton on tenor saxophone, and also toured with Elliot Lawrence. Then, he started to travel back and forth between New York and Philadelphia, especially to see his new friend Charlie Parker, who was one of the few people who had encouraged him early on. By January 1946, Mulligan had moved to New York, but right away went off to Los Angeles to become part of Gene Krupa's big-band as an arranger. His first recordings with the big-band were made in 1947. Here, he really attracted attention with his arrangement of "Disc Jockey Jump" (1947). On a few occasions, Mulligan also played with Krupa's band but then always on alto saxophone and not on baritone. At this time, another of his compositions titled "Elevation" was also recorded by Red Rodney's group. BIRTH OF THE COOL After working with Gene Krupa for a year, Mulligan moved back to New York and became very much interested in the cool jazz movement that was just blooming at the time in New York. He was working in Claude Thornhill's big-band then. Mulligan wrote scores for the band and both performed and recorded with them in 1948. Thornhill's band at the time was a meeting place of many influential artists who later made considerate contributions to the development of cool jazz. Through his work with Thornhill, Mulligan came in contact with the band's main arranger Gil Evans. Mulligan then also arranged for the band that had developed such an original sound under Thornhill and Evans. Part of this was due to the unusual instrumentation of the band that included French horns, bass clarinet, and also tuba. As a result of his contact with Evans, Mulligan joined Miles Davis' nonet in 1948. Actually, it was in Evans' apartment on West 55th that the long sessions of discussion ensued, which led to the creation of a new movement in jazz. The result was the Miles Davis' famous "Birth of the Cool" nonet. Although mainly led by Davis and Evans, Mulligan was an important part of this group. Together with Gil Evans and pianist and composer John Lewis, Mulligan wrote and arranged most of the material for the nonet's recording sessions between 1949 and 1950. Mulligan arranged his originals "Jeru", "Venus de Milo", and "Rocker" for the group as well as pianist George Wallington's "Godchild" and the standard "Darn that Dream". Mulligan had by now started specializing as a player in baritone saxophone. The unique combination of instruments was one of the distinctive characteristics of the band and was reminiscent of Thornhill's band. The nonet also included French horns, tuba, trumpet, trombone, and alto and baritone saxophone. With the group's recording sessions stretched out over such a long period of time it was no wonder the players changed. Gerry Mulligan was one of the few constants of the nonet alongside alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, tuba player Bill Barber, and of course Davis himself. This underlines the importance of the baritonist's role in the influential nonet. The cool jazz movement encompasses some very diverse styles of modern jazz, often more restrained or understated and therefore named cool. Although, musicians of this style reject the notion that the music they play is anything less emotionally involved than the other strands of jazz. Pioneers of this movement include Miles Davis, Gil Evans, John Lewis and Mulligan himself. What is considered as the vehicle of the cool jazz revolution was Miles Davis' nonet. Although very influential in the development of the cool sound in jazz, in retrospect, at the time the group was not so successful on the financial level. The nonet only performed shortly at the Royal Roost and then at the Clique in 1949. Luckily Davis then managed to persuade Capitol to record the band. The great arrangers of the cool era included Claude Thornhill and Gil Evans with whom Mulligan had worked and recorded. It is their conceptualization that led to the nonet recordings of Davis' "Birth of the Cool" nonet. Mulligan at this time also led several other bands that were similar in instrumentation to that of Davis' nonet. Mulligan 's later quartets form part of the typical cool group of the early 1950s and 1960s with others such as the Modern Jazz Quartet, George Shearing's quintet and Dave Brubeck's quartets. During this time in New York, Mulligan became addicted to heroin. He was already using marijuana, which was introduced to him by a colleague from Tommy Tucker's band. He was also arrested for possession of marijuana while he was walking in the streets of Los Angeles one day with Charlie Parker. But his addiction to heroin led to unsteady work, which then led to a rather frenzied period for him. Later, his rehabilitation from drugs was mainly due to his friend Gale Madden, who also incidentally put in his mind the possibility of having a jazz rhythm section without the piano. In 1951, during this chaotic time, Mulligan went to Los Angeles to write scores for Stan Kenton's big-band, including "Young Kenton", "Swing House", and "Walkin Shoes". Mulligan also played for a while with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars and later got a regular Monday engagement at The Haig. It was probably then that the baritone saxophonist realized how much extra freedom in his solos he had when he played without a pianist. THE GERRY MULLIGAN QUARTET The turning point in Mulligan 's career came in 1952 when he returned to Los Angeles again and formed the first of his many pianoless quartets. It consisted of baritone saxophone, trumpet, bass, and drums. Mulligan found that arranging and composing was just as crucial as improvising with this group. His success in extracting a variety of sounds from only these instruments are truly amazing. The Gerry Mulligan Quartet made an immediate impact and made both Mulligan and Baker into internationally acclaimed stars. They continued for about a year until the saxophonist went into jail on drug related offences. When Mulligan came to Hollywood in the summer of 1952 he wanted to work in a context that was not restrictive and left room for his unique style of play. With the baritone saxophone usually not featuring as a solo instrument so often and Mulligan 's work as arranger, he had not had so many good opportunities to play. This now changed drastically with the formation of his own quartet. For his new group he chose the young trumpeter Chet Baker, whom he knew from the Monday night jam sessions at The Haig. With Baker, he had found the right player to complement himself. As Mulligan, Baker did not need to show off through volume. He hardly ever played louder than mezzo-forte, delivering his lyrical lines with clear tone. Mulligan 's more cheerful tone contrasted well with Baker's more subdued play. The effect of their collaboration often was an interesting use of counterpoint with the two horns playing free from chordal instruments. On the musical level, there was an amazing sense of understanding between the trumpeter and the saxophonist. Mulligan then asked New York pianist George Wallington to join his group, but Wallington was not interested. So Mulligan formed his quartet with bassist Bob Whitlock and drummer Chico Hamilton. Later, Carson Smith and Larry Bunker took their places. Mulligan 's rationale behind the pianoless quartet therefore lies partially in the fact that it was formed out of necessity. Wallington, his first choice pianist declined and there was also no piano on stage at The Haig where the quartet started performing. Another big factor in the creation of this quartet was Mulligan's own interest in trying to make his music more free. He felt that the piano, or any chordal instrument for that matter, essentially became dominant in the music. The saxophones or other horns and bass had to play second fiddle, in relative terms. Thus, he felt that the soloist on the saxophone, for example, actually became enslaved to the piano, and had to follow the piano's tone, rather than creating and setting its own. The horns had to adapt to the piano's changes in the chords, and Mulligan wanted to free himself of this. The pianoless quartet first appeared at The Haig in Los Angeles. Although The Haig was quite a small club on Wilshire Boulevard it became a leadingvenue of the West Coast jazz scene in the '50s. Since it was a converted bungalow it could only fit performances of small groups. The great tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray and the trio of vibraphonist Red Norvo played there and bassist Curtis Counce's quintet made its debut at The Haig. Other artists like Hampton Hawes, Warne Marsh, Lee Konitz, and Bud Shank also recorded at the little club. Mulligan did that, too. Mulligan 's group was hired by the club's press agent, a young man named Richard Bock. Bock originally wanted them to play during the off-nights. Eventually Bock was so amazed by the pianoless group that he borrowed money to record them. This named the beginning of Mulligan 's success as revolutionizing this particular type of band and also marked the beginning of Richard Bock's recording company, Pacific Jazz Records. On 16 August 1952, Mulligan started on a series of recording sessions with his quartet when Chet Baker was still playing with him. They were accompanied by Bob Whitlock on bass and Chico Hamilton on drums. The first tunes they recorded were "Bernie's Tune" and "Lullaby of the Leaves". In the next session, in which Carson Smith replaced Whitlock, the quartet took on the exotic sounding "Carioca", "My Funny Valentine", and Mulligan 's originals "Bark for Barksdale" and "Line for Lyons". During the roup's sessions in October, Whitlock was again playing on bass when ulligan recorded his "Nights at the Turntable" and the famous "Walkiri hoes" along with "Frenesi", "Aren't You Glad You're You?", and Freeway". Whitlock stayed with the quartet for the recording session from ebruary to May 1953, but Larry Bunker replaced drummer Chico Hamilton on these dates. In this setup the quartet played "Cherry", "Makin' Whoopee", "Love Me or Leave Me", "I May Be Wrong", "I'm Beginning to See the Light", "The Nearness of You", and "Tea for Two". They also recorded more compositions by Mulligan: "Five Brothers", "Jeru", and "Swing House". Many of Mulligan 's original compositions were completely new pieces. Although he usually wrote entirely new tunes there are exceptions and for "Swing House" he used the chord changes of "Sweet Georgia Brown". "Jeru" was one of Mulligan 's earlier compositions that he had already recorded with Miles Davis for "Birth of the Cool". MULLIGAN AND BAKER Unfortunately Mulligan's first pianoless quartet did not really see a happy ending, despite its extraordinary success. A year after it was formed, in September 1953, Mulligan was arrested on charges of narcotics possession and had to serve time in prison until Christmas. Soon after he was released from jail, he and Chet Baker had a falling out. By that time, the quartet was highly successful and Baker was appearing as one of the leading men in "Down Beat" and "Metronome" polls. So the trumpet player thought he deserved better than the $125 per week that he was earning at that time with the band. Soon after Mulligan 's release, Baker ran into him on HollywoodBoulevard and basically demanded a pay raise to $300 per week. Mulliganthought this demand was not only ridiculous, but also quite tactless, as he had just gotten out of prison, and was not working. This basically ended the Mulligan-Baker relationship and thus the first of Mulligan 's infamous quartets. Ever since then, it is said that Mulligan always looked for more sensitive partners, who understood his passion, and did not go head over heels with money. Chet Baker (1929-88) was an expressive trumpeter who sometimes alsoplayed on flugelhorn and sang. Originally from Yale, Oklahoma, he came toLos Angeles as a child. His father introduced him to Jack Teagarden's recordings and Baker then started playing trombone. But then he heard Harry James and Bix Beiderbecke and changed to trumpet when he was 13. From 1946 to 1948 and 1950 to 1951, Baker played in army bands where he gained his first experience with bop. When he left the army he had already evolved into a very skilled player with a unique sound. He performed with Charlie Parker for a short while and then joined Gerry Mulligan 's quartet in 1952. After he split from Mulligan, Baker played again for Parker in 1953and then mostly led his own groups. He had a quartet and then went on a tour of Europe. After his return to New York in spring 1956, Baker started taking heroin. His sideman Dick Twardzik had already died from an overdose while Baker's group had been playing in Paris and now the trumpeter's own addiction took a toll on his career. Baker had to serve several federal hospital and prison sentences in the USA and was then also put into prison in Italy from 1960 to 1961 again on drug-related offenses. Two years later he was arrested in Munich and after this incident moved to Paris. There, Baker had the chance to perform again and appeared at the new Chat qui Peche and the Blue Note. When his trumpet was stolen at the Chat qui Peche he bought a flugelhorn as a replacement for it. This is how Baker got to play flugelhorn for the rest of the '60s. In March 1964, Baker was to deported to the USA since he had continued to be arrested frequently. Back in the USA the trumpeter made again more recordings and put together another band of his own. But then from 1968 to 1973 he did not play at all after he was beaten up and lost his teeth. After he resumed playing once he more, he again worked a lot in Europe. MULLIGAN'S TENTET Before his work in his famous quartet with Baker, Mulligan had first formed a 10-piece band to play his compositions in 1951. Then back in New York, he had modeled a tentet maybe also on the influence of Davis' nonet and recorded with it. So on 27 August 1951, Mulligan was in the studio for Prestige. His sidemen were tenor saxophonist Allen Eager, trumpeters Nick Travis and Jery Lloyd, trombonist Ollie Wilson, and Max McElroy also playing baritone saxophone. Mulligan's rhythm section consisted of pianist George Wallington, drummer Walter Bolden, and bassist Phil Leshin with the addition of Gail Madden on maracas. Mulligan had been busy in his work as a writer and thought up more tunes for this kind of medium-sized band after his work with Davis. This group gave him the opportunity to record his compositions including "Mulligan 's Too". In 1953, Mulligan formed a new tentet. Although he had been so very successful with his quartet, he was still very motivated to work with a larger unit. With this new band, he recorded for Capitol records. His tentet was built on the basis of the Miles Davis nonet. Mulligan again had Chet Baker by his side but also added Pete Candoli on trumpet to his group. His other sidemen were valve trombone player Bob Enevoldsen, Ray Siegel on tuba, John Graas on French horn, and Bud Shank and Don Davidson on alto and baritone saxophone respectively. The tentet's rhythm section contained no piano and was just made up of bassist Joe Mondragon and Chico Hamilton on drums. In the first recording session on January 29, the ten-piece band recorded the Mulligan originals "Westwood Walk", "A Ballad", "Rocker", and "Walkin Shoes". Two days later the group came in for its second session; the group was the same as before with the exception of Larry Bunker playing the drums instead of Chico Hamilton. Again, the group played some of Mulligan 's compositions: "Simbah," "Flash," and "Ontet". On "Simbah" Mulligan played his baritone saxophone as usual, but on "Flash", "Ontet", and "Taking a Chance on Love" he switched to piano. Especially recordings such as "A Ballad" or "Simbah" showcased Mulligan 's outstanding abilities on his horn while the pieces where he switches to piano also showed him there as a very individual artists. When Mulligan used the piano it was not to accompany the other players as part of the rhythm section but to contribute to the group as another soloist. At this time, Mulligan also wrote for Stan Kenton's band for a year. Although by this time he had already started frequently touring Europe in the early 1950s, in 1954, his astounding performance in Salle Pleyel, Paris, made him even more critically acclaimed. Now, he started becoming one of the most important baritone saxophonists of his time. MULLIGAN AND BROOKMEYER Valve trombone player, pianist, and arranger Bob Brookmeyer was one of Mulligan 's most important sidemen, who collaborated with the baritone player on many different projects over the years. He also became Mulligan's new partner in his quartet after Baker did not work with the baritonist any. Brookmeyer was born on 19 December 1929 in Kansas City, Missouri. When he was eight years old, he started to play clarinet and then changed to trombone while in junior high school. When he was 16 years old, Brookmeyer also started to play piano and studied that instrument and composition at the Kansas City Conservatory for three years. He began his career as a pianist organizing jam sessions in Chicago. Brookmeyer then had the chance to play with Tex Beneke's big-band but was drafted into the army after just a few days with that band. But in December 1951 he rejoined Beneke and then went to New York. Still working mainly as a pianist, he played as a freelance in the big-bands of Terry Gibbs, Ray McKinley Louis Prima, Jerry Wald, and Claude Thornhill. As he was only the second pianist in Thornhill's band he also played in the big-band's trombone sectionsometimes. From this time on he became one of the few players to specialize in the valve trombone instead of using the slide. Brookmeyer then played some time with Stan Getz in late 1952 and 1953, intermitted by a short stint with trombonist Woody Herman's orchestra. Then, Brookmeyer began to collaborate with Gerry Mulligan. He took Chet Baker's place in Mulligan 's quartet and stayed with the group until their performance in May 1954 when they were playing at the Festival International de jazz in Paris. After another time with Getz, in the summer of 1955, Brookmeyer returned to Mulligan as a sideman in the saxophonist's pianoless sextet. He stayed until the next year and then in 1957 also played for Mulligan 's quartet again. Late that year, Brookmeyer then joined unusual small combo, Jimmy Giuffre's trio. They would usually perform on reeds, trombone, and guitar, but sometimes Brookmeyer also played piano in the trio. He stayed with Giuffre for about a year. All this time, Brookmeyer had continued to work also as a pianist and then in 1959 recorded an album in a quartet with Bill Evans. In the first half of the '60s, Brookmeyer then again worked a lot with Mulligan. From 1960 to 1964, he was an important member of Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band both as a soloist and a writer. At the same time, the trombonist was also again a member of the Mulligan quartet from 1962 to 1965, and also led a group himself with trumpet and flugelhorn player Clark Terry from 1961 to 1967. In 1965, Brookmeyer was also involved in the founding of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. He then continued to work with Giuffre from time to time and worked a lot as a studio musician and sidemen in a variety of settings. During his later career, Brookmeyer spent long periods of time in Europe and then in 1997 went on tour and recorded with the Gerry Mulligan Tribute Band. Different versions of Mulligan 's pianoless quartets continued throughout the decade. Each of his groups were quite unique in composition and style. Among some of the musicians who have formed Mulligan 's group at one time or another are saxophonist Zoot Sims, trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, trumpeter Jon Eardley, bassists Carson Smith and Bill Crow, and drummer Chico Hamilton. Between 1952 and 1954, Brookmeyer and Eardley had replaced Baker, Red Mitchell replaced Whitlock, and Frank Isola replaced Hamilton. Sometimes, Mulligan changed his group into a sextet with the addition of trumpeter Jon Eardley and Zoot Sims to his quartet. In 1958, the famous trumpeter Art Farmer had joined Mulligan after being with Horace Silver's group for two years. He was one of the few members of the quartet who felt like being the odd one out. Farmer was the first one to become part of Mulligan 's quartet who did not hail from the West Coast sound, meaning his influences were entirely different than those of Mulligan and his other sidemen. Farmer felt that the group had actually changed because of his presence, and even claimed, "I think maybe I changed Gerry's playing more than he changed mine". Farmer left the group in 1959, because Mulligan had started thinking about orienting his work more towards arranging than being a solo artist, and he wanted to write for a big-band type of setting. Farmer did not really think he was a big-band trumpeter, so he decided to leave, and let Mulligan pursue one of his fondest dreams. THE CONCERT JAZZ BAND Thus, in 1960, Mulligan formed his 13-piece Concert Jazz Band, with which he toured in Europe and in 1964 in Japan. In essence, the Concert Jazz Band, as the tentet before, grew out of Mulligan 's concept of his quartets. The two major solo artists were still Mulligan on baritone and Brookmeyer on valve trombone. Often, the band played behind the soloists in the same manner as it might have done in a quartet. The Concert Jazz Band was basically the ultimate point that Mulligan was striving towards during his entire musical career. He felt that whatever he had learnt during his years as a musician, he could apply it all to his new big-band. This band also showed influences of Miles Davis' nonet. Mulligan used some re-written works of the group's recording sessions to which he had contributed substantially. Many things had changed within the ten years that had passed between the time of Davis' band and the formation of Mulligan 's tentet. Jazz had become a more commercial business in itself, and jazz musicians now participated in many more formats of the media. But what Mulligan needed in his band were not just people who could play easily in any style, but artists who performed and improvised with personality. He found such members for his band with trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Brookmeyer, and drummer Mel Lewis. Other band members were Sims as saxophonist and clarinet player Al Cohn, trumpeter Thad Jones, and vibraphonist Gary McFarland. What was also important about Mulligan was his ability to gain the loyalty of his band members. For example, Lewis gave up quite profitable opportunities to work in Hollywood in order to travel with Mulligan 's band. This fierce loyalty of his fellow band members point to one of the greatest qualities of Mulligan: that of being a true leader. He was very respectful towards his colleagues and understood that each individual contributed immensely to the group as a whole. This made everyone feel united and part of the entire project. Mulligan was also known to pay well as a bandleader, although there was of course the difference of opinions on this matter between Baker and Mulligan in earlier years. But in the end, Mulligan 's group was united in its wish to play great jazz, and proved that big-bands could still exist. Nonetheless, it was difficult for Mulligan to keep the large group functioning properly. So he again formed a smaller group in 1964, of which Brookmeyer was a member until it was broken up in 1965. Besides his work with his tentet and jazz Concert Band Mulligan continued to be also involved in a wealth of other projects over the years. In 1958, he played at the Newport Jazz Festival. In 1962, after reducing his public appearances and work for just a while, Mulligan began again to accept more work. He started to appear more also in other New York clubs besides The Vanguard, which was sort of his home base in a way. He had another quartet this time, with Brookmeyer, Bill Crow, and drummer Gus Johnson. They were a perfect combination, as they were all very professional musicians apart from being just great artists. They were able to put their personal feelings aside and play to the best of their abilities. FROM BRUBECK TO THE REBIRTH OF COOL In 1966, Mulligan worked with Bill Holman on "Music for Baritone Saxophone and Orchestra", which premiered with the Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra. After this, Mulligan once again retreated and became a sideman, figuring prominently with Dave Brubeck between 1968 and 1972. Mulligan took Paul Desmond's place when the alto saxophonist left the touring quartet. But Mulligan appeared as an extra added attraction toBrubeck's group. Instead of being called The Dave Brubeck Quartet as before, during all the time the baritone saxophonist played in the quartet the group was always billed as "The Dave Brubeck Trio featuring guest star Gerry Mulligan". Still, the performances of the group were great and often, they would collaborate with symphony orchestras. At a performance at the Berlin Philharmonie, the players had to play three encores before the audience could be persuaded to leave for the night. Fortunately this outstanding concert has been recorded on "Live at the Berlin Philharmonic". Mulligan also wrote arrangements as a freelance at the time. But he felt that his work as an arranger was largely being disregarded by the media during this period. He started to notice that he was not appearing in any of the major polls that were being published by the various authority magazines, and especially in 1973, he spoke up that he was rather angry for the media not noticing his work. And Mulligan had really kept busy. The previous year, he had formed another big-band, a 14-piece band called Age of Steam. He also released an album called "Age of Steam" that year, which showed that he was still true to his style and did not feel the need to innovate just for the sake of change. Even if that was not noticed, he had as well put together an excellent group in July 1973 to open the Newport/New York Jazz Festival. Mulligan was very upset that seemingly not even his work in Newport was considered when the musician polls were being drawn up. Yet, despite his uneasiness about the media not noticing his work, Mulligan had started to become more involved in jazz academics. He was the resident musician at Miami University in 1974 and also appeared for a week at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester to teach some improvisation and arrangement classes. Even though he thought at first that teaching jazz to students was rather a strange concept, he felt that as an experienced performer and writer he could come up with a method that could help the students greatly. During the later years of his career, Mulligan pursued more interesting projects and also received more recognition for his achievements. Between 1974 and 1977, Mulligan worked regularly both in New York and Italy, as he was living in Italy at the time. He did yearly tours with his own quartet and started playing the soprano saxophone from time to time. Then in 1978, he regrouped his former 13-piece Concert Jazz Band as a new 14-piece band and toured with it during the following years. In the 1980s, Mulligan worked regularly in New York and made more recordings as a leader there. At this time, he experimented with different formats of music, for example, leading a 20-piece big-band in 1980, and using electronic instruments in 1982 and 1983. In 1986, after such experimentation, Mulligan went back to more established forms and led a quintet with tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton. In 1992, Mulligan recreated what he was once originally part of, the Miles Davis nonet sessions. He performed this as the "Rebirth of Cool" concert at Carnegie Hall, with a new 11-piece band. This group included trumpet player Wallace Roney, saxophonist Phil Woods, pianist John Lewis, and tuba player Bill Barber. Mulligan also toured with this group in Europe and Brazil in 1993 but the group did not really meet with tremendous success. After a very long and successful career, Gerry Mulligan met his death on 19 January 1996 in Darien, Connecticut. He suffered an infection after being operated on the knee, and succumbed to his death. After his death, the Gerry Mulligan Tribute Band was formed with Lee Konitz on alto saxophone Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone, Randy Brecker on trumpet and flugelhorn, and pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Dean Johnson, and drummer Ron Vincent. Together they recorded "Thank You, Gerry!", a tribute album featuring some of Mulligan 's most beloved tunes. Gerry Mulligan had one of the most well-known careers in modern jazz history, and contributed to many developments in jazz, namely the cool jazz movement. He also made a contribution as a jazz academic. The versatility and subtlety with which he composed and arranged his pieces, and also played his baritone saxophone, made him one of the truly outstanding figures of jazz history |
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