1. You Took Advantage of Me - Concert Jazz Band 1960
2. Manoir Des Mes Reves - Concert Jazz Band 1960
3. Lady Chatterley's Mother - CJB at Village Vanguard
4. Barbara's Theme - CJB On Tour With Zoot Sims
5. Blueport - CJB at Village Vanguard
6. Weep - Presents a Concert In Jazz
7. All About Rosie - Presents a Concert In Jazz
8. Chuggin' - Presents a Concert In Jazz
9. Summer's Over - Presents a Concert In Jazz
10. Israel - Presents a Concert In Jazz
11. Ballad - Gerry Mulligan 1963
12. Big City Blues - Gerry Mulligan 1963

July 25 or 27, 1960

December, 1960

November, 1960

July 10 or 11, 1961

December 18,19, 20, or 21, 1962

 LINER NOTES

By early 1952 Mulligan had moved to California and begun writing arrangements for Stan Kenton. Kenton was regrouping after the financial failure of his 1950-51 Innovations orchestra, which had included a large string section and French horns in addition to the usual five trumpets, five trombones, five saxophones, and rhythm section. Having reverted to his customary insturmentation, Kenton bought several arrangements form mulligan and recorder two of them in September 1952, 'Young Blood' and 'Swing House'.

These two arrangements were among Kenton's most memorable recordings of the early Fifties, and they greatly influenced another young Kenton arranger. As Bill Holman told Ted Giola in West Coast Jazz (Oxford University press, 1992):

'I spent time trying to figure out what kind of material I could write for the band. I knew I wanted to do something different from what it had been doing previously, but I knew that Stan was not interested in Basie-type charts. But the things gerry Mulligan had done with the band gave me a glimmer of light of what could be done'

During the period, Mulligan was enjoying a burst of public attention and acceptance for his first piano-less quartet with Chet Baker; but even than writing for larger ansembles remained much on his mind. He used the quartet as the nucleus of a tentet that recorded eight memorable sides for capitol in January 1953. Mulligan's writing remained strongly in evidence in his four-horns-bass-drums sextet of the mid-Fifties. And in April 1957 he recorded four marvelous pieces with a specially assembled studio big band that included Bob Brookmeyer. Lee Konitz, Charlie Rouse and Zoot Sims.

With all this background, it seems inevitable that Mulligan would eventually form his own big band, and in March 1960 in New York he did, though as he put it, "I had a lot of pressure from Nick Travis and Brookmeyer and Mel Lewis to put that band together. They were always on my case; it never would have become a band without their collaboration and pushing me to do it." Be that as it may, the concept of the band was very much Mulligan's: large enough to provide ensemble punch and a variety of tonal colors and small enough to retain the airy, dancing qualities of his small groups. If the band had any antecedent, it was the Red Norvo band of the late Thirties with its Eddie Sauter arrangements.

Mulligan commissioned arrangements from several distinguished colleagues, including Brookmeyer, Al Cohn, Holman, and Johnny Mandel; Holman, in fact, was flown to New York to work on the project.. Brookmeyer, who had spent several years with the Mulligan quartet and sextet, became the band's "straw boss" - he, Travis, and Lewis influenced Mulligan's choice of sidemen. (Lewis, COnte Candoli, and Buddy Clark were West Coast residents who commuted to New York; Lewis continued this bi-coastal existence until 1963, when he mvoed east for good.)

From the beginning, the Concert Jazz Band (the name emphasized that it was not a dance band) received strong critical approval as well as support from Norman Granz. Granz's backing enabled the band to record three albums in 1960 and to tour extensively. After a first-rate performance at teh Newport Jazz Festival (with the audience undeterred by rain), the Mulligan band did a series of break-in dates throughout the United States, followed by a three-week European tour in the late fall of 1960.

It was unfortunate for the CJB that Norman Granz sold Verve to MGM in January 1961; the tour support the band had enjoyed under his auspices ceased to exist, and Mulligan could not afford to keep the band going on a regular basis by himself. Though the CJB recorded two more albums and continued to appear in public until the end of 1964 (most frequently at Birdland in new York), it lost much of its momentum.

During the late Seventies and early Eighties, Mulligan revived his big band for occasional tours and a recording. It's ironic that he was able to do more writing for this edition of his orchestra than he ahd done for the CJB. Burdened with the responsibilities of leadership, he had been able to write only a handful of arangements during the early Sixties, and only one, "Come Rain or Come Shine", was recorded.

Gerry Mulligan has continued, of course, a highly successful career as a soloist. His Concert Jazz Band, despite the brevity of its existence, is one of the most fondly remembered of modern big bands. Its recorded legacy, as you will hear, has held up extremelywell over three decades.

Manoir de Mes Reves: Brookmeyer's setting of a lovely Django Reinhart opus, here featuring Mulligan. Django's 1943 recording, incidentally, was done with two clarinets, two guitars, bass, and drums and has a similarly translucent quality.

Barbara's Theme: One of three Johnny Mandel arrangements for the CJB, all recorded themes from his classic 1958 soundtrack for the film I Want to Live, in which Mulligan both played and appeared on screen. Mulligan's opening note sounds like a French horn; Don Ferrara plays the cup-muted trumpet solo.

Weep: Having recently moved to New York in the fall of 1960, Gary McFarland brought "Weep" and "Chuggin'" to the CJB rehearsal. The acceptance and subsequent recording of these pieces led to a highly successful composing-arranging career for McFarland, ended by his premature death in 1971. Solos by Mulligan, Brookmeyer, and Ferrara; listen for the ending.

All About Rosie: One of George Russell's bets, and best-known, works; three variations on a children's song. This version was a rescoring of the riginal arrangement done for the 1957 Brandeis Jazz Festival. Solos by Mulligan, Brookmeye, Ferrara, and lead alto Gene Quill.

Israel: John Carisi recast his famed Birth of the Cool piece for the CJB; here, the trumpet section plays Miles Davis's solo in unison. Solos by Brookmeyer and Mulligan.

Bill Kircner is a composer-arranger, multi-reed player, and leader of the Bill Kirchenr Nonet. Presents a Concert in Jazz

This album, the third by Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band, was recorded at a time when the orchestra was a bit more than a year old and already a potent force in the world of jazz. It had swept the various polls conducted by magazines and trade papers among the public and the jazz critics, including Down Beat's annual International Jazz Critics Poll and Billboard Music Week's yearly jazz writers' roundup. There was no doubt that this was a band that had arrived.

But this album marks an arrival of another sort. On this set the band first presents concert jazz compositions. written or scored especially for the group, and having more contemporary music dimension than before.

The writers selected by Gerry for the task were George Russell, Johnny Carisi, Gary McFarland, and Bob Brookmeyer.

Composer/arranger George Russell drew wide critical acclaim for his All About Rosie, originally commissioned for a concert of contemporary music at Brandeis University. The composition is in three sections, and is based on a children's play song which Russell recalled from his youth.

"I asked George to write something for the band." Garry said. "And when he turned in All About Rosie I almost died. I was haunted by the recording he made of the piece with that fantastic piano solo by Bill Evans. But I think the band really did it here. I don't think George could get a better reading. And the way the saz section plays is fantastic!

"An About Rosie may have boon written originally as variations on a children's song, but I think of the three parts this way: Rosie's Early Life, Rosie's Blues, and Rosie Steps Out. The way George wrote it for us, Rosie's grown up!"

Johnny Carisi has played trumpet with such bands as Glenn Miller's Air Force orchestra. Claude Thornhill, Charlie Barnet, and George Handy, and has bean a top composer of modern jazz and contemporary musical compositions. Carisi wrote Israel for the now-legendary "Birth of the Cool" sessions which Miles Davis and his group (including Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax recorded for Capitol Records in 1949 and 1950. For the Concert Jazz Bend, Carisi scored Israel for a large ensemble but successfully retained the vital elements which originally made it so compelling.

Israel is one of my favorite pieces," Gerry noted. "It's a great piece of construction. I've always loved the way it hangs together.

This Concert in Jazz introduces the work of Gary McFarland. a young composer/arranger who was invited to a band rehearsal by Bob Brookmeyer, and who stayed around to impress Gerry and Bob with his work. Just 27 years old. Gary has studied at the Burklee School in Boston and at The School of Jazz in Lenox. Mass. His appearance is audible proof of the sincerity of Gerry's hope to use his orchestra to discover and develop new writers and players.

"Weep was the first thug Gary brought to us' Gerry said. "We tried it and we liked it. Chuggin' is a tune Gary wrote for a review. When he played it for us it sounded perfect for the band. It has a real Duke feeling "

One of the prime factors involved in the knitting together of The Concert Jazz Band is the long-time collaboration and friendship between Gerry and Bob Brookmeyer. They have played together in Gerry's groups for years, and have developed an almost instinctive awareness of each other's musical thought. In fact, some of the simultaneous free improvisation played by Gerry and Bob are among the most remarkable and rewarding moments in jazz.

The small-group collaboration has extended into the Concert Jazz Band, where Brookmeyer's gully, lyrical trombone is an important solo voice in the orchestra. In addition, Bob's writing and arranging is invaluable in setting the style and sound of the band as conceived by Gerry. Two of Gerry's compositions in this album were arranged by Brookmeyer. and demonstrate the close musical kinship of the two musicians.

"I Know, Don't Know How was written for the sextet," Gerry said. "And, as I recall, it was partly improvised. Bob orchestrated the last chorus of the sextet's version and included it in this arrangement for the band.

"Sumer's Over is a song I wrote that has a lovely lyric by Judy Holliday. It's slightly sad and wistful. You know, the feeling you have, when Summer and the good times are gone, and Winter is coming on."

The program presented in this album represents a most logical step in the band's recorded history.

We wanted this to be more a writer's album than what we had done before." Gerry noted "The first album was cut in the studio with staples out of our book. It wasn't particularly concert material The second album was of the band in person, with the feeling you get at a live date. Here we have concert material, some of it pretty extended, and we have a band playing it that is a band rather than a good gathering of musicians.

"I think," Gerry mused. "that this band feels so much like a band now that we can play pieces like these for ourselves and feel how they would build for an audience"

The band's performance breathes life into the statement of purpose Gerry made recently to writer Burt Korall in a magazine interview. "The band is the product of seven years of thinking and trying," he said "Typical instrumentation - seven brass, five reads. four rhythm - didn't work out; the sound was too heavy and full. The flexibility I had been so happy with in the small band was missing. We finally came up with our current set up six brass, five reeds, drums, and bass which allows for variety of tone color, and the flexibility and clarity of a small band.

"We actually consider the brass as five brass - three trumpets and two trombones and a bass trombone. Five is a lighter feeling section for ensemble sound. And the reeds actually break down to an ensemble of a clarinet, alto sax, tenor, and baritone."

More than anything, this album proves that the band has achieved that lightness and flexibility so valued by Garry, and that it has arrived at the point where it can tackle intricate and extended works without sacrificing the sensitive qualities which have been the hallmark of Mulligan 's style over the years.

DOM CERULLI New York 1961