THREE BARITONE SAXOPHONE BAND

Plays Mulligan

Live At Brevard Festival

1. Line For Lyons
2. Blue Port
3. I Want To Live
4. Walkin' Shoes
5. Elevation
6. Black Nightgown
7. Bernie's Tune
8. Festive Minor
9. Theme For Jobim
10. Five Brothers
11. Lonesome Boulevard
12. Waltz For Geraldus

May 21, 1997

 LINER NOTES

The idea for this Three Baritone Saxophone tribute to Gerry Mulligan came from Giampiero Rubei, who runs the Image/Jazz Festival in Rome. Rubei contact Smulyan, who then called Roberta Arnold, Cuber's manager, about setting up such a concert. After running the idea by noted jazz critic Ira Gitler - a good friend of Mulligan's who loved the idea - Roberta and Ronnie set about making it a reality. The Three Baritone Saxes, with an Italian rhythm section, played for 3 nights in July of 1996 and turned out to be the highlight of the two-month-long festival. Rave reviews led to other European dates. The TBS project began to ahve a life of its own.

The TBS Band's original repertoire - an all-Mulligan set - was later amended by Roberta for a lengthy Lisbon, Portugal concert. "I wanted to add some music that would surprise and inform the Mulligan fans in Lisbon who may not have ben familiar with Gerry's work in the cinema," says Roberta. "I gathered som 'movie music' that Gerry wrote for films or that was written expreesly for him to play. Thus, the two Johnny mandel tunes from the film "I Want To Live", the tile theme and "Black Nightgown". Gerry played them beautifully on the soundtrack. I also included "Theme For Jobim", Gerry's tune that was used on the soundtrack of "The Player."

Leading the TBS Band is Ronnie Cuber, one of the premier Baritone Sax players sinc ethe mid-'60s, when he made a splash as part of George Benson's popular organ combo. Musical associations with King Curtis, Eddie Palmieri and Aretha Franklin enhanced his reputation and led to his first-call status around the new York music scene.

Cuber's first recordings as a leader were a pair of well-received straight-ahead jazz albums for Xanadu in the mid-70s. Since then he's recorded many more under his own name, for labels such as King, ProJazz, SteepleChase and Milestone.

The other baritones, Nick brignola and Gary Smulyan, are similarly accomplished. Brignola, also a poll winner, has toured and recorded with the bands of Woody Herman, Charles Mingus, Phil Woods and numerous others. As a leader, he's recorded extansively, including six albums on Reservoir Records, his current label. Like Cuber he's prominent in music education/clinic circles.

Smulyan is best known for his tenures in Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and the Mel lewis Jazz Orchestra, (he continues to play in the Village Vanguard Monday Night Orchestra). He's also a regular member of the Mingus Big Band, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and the Carnegie Hall Big Band. Smulyan is also a poll-winner and to date has recorded four albums as a leader.

The rhythm section contains two names to watch for in the future: bassist Andy McKee and drummer Joe Farnsworth. Andy first came to the attention of Cuber when they played together in the MIngus Bag Band at Fez, A Manhattan night club. Farnsworth, though a relative newcomer to the New York scene, is already playing gigs all over the city.

Th TBS Band Plays Mulligan highlights eight Mulligan penned or Mulligan-associated tunes; the aforementioned Johnny Mandel soundtrack compositions; and Cuber's special tribute, "Waltz for Geraldus," a wondrous piece that closes out the disc and utilizes the three baritones to the fullest extent.

Some of Mulligan's best-known recordings are covered on this CD. "Gerry wrote hundreds of tunes," says Cuber. "We anrrowed it down to some of the older tunes that were very famous, like "Line For Lyons," and "Walkin' SHoes". They were big jazz hits for him."

Once the repertoire was selected, a question remained; how to make these tunes sound good with three abritones (and no piano) while staying faithful to the intent of the tribute?

"For thie recording we didn't have a piano, so I had to restructure the whole format and write new arrangements" says Cuber. "I had to come up with background parts to be played while the guys were blowing, harmonize the melody, to make it more interesting. When I wrote these arrangements I had to stay within the context of the lines of the compositions themselves, the period they were written in, so they didn't sound like they came from two different periods. It really was a challenge, writing for three baritone saxes. Usually when I write for larger ensembles I like to write for four horns, or two horns. With three horns you have to be very careful about the voicings, the harmony, the way they're used."

Cuber's arrangements, coupled with the spirited soloing by everyone involved, backed by sensitive interplay, make for a sensational recording. "I'm very happy with the record, with the contributions of Nick, Gary, Andy and Joe."

The TBS Band continues to tour and win new followers for the baritone sax sound while keeping the music of Gerry Mulligan at teh forefront. With an album as fine as this one there should be many converts, concerts, and recordings in their future.

- Michael Bloom

1. Walkin' Shoes
2. Bernie's Tune
3. I Want To Live
4. Lonesome Boulevard
5. Waltz For Geraldus

May 21, 1997