Themes
Songs
Chronology
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Collection Themes Songs Chronology | |
Jeru | |
Disc #1
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Disc #3
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| Disc #1 Tracks 1 - 7: from: "Mulligan Plays Mulligan" Walter Bolden, Allen Eager, Jerry Hurwitz, Phil Leshin, Max MacElroy, Gail Madden, Gerry Mulligan, Nick Travis, George Wallington, Ollie Wilson - August 17, 1951 Tracks 8 - 9: from: "Complete Pacific Jazz"Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Whitlock - August 16, 1952 Tracks 10 - 13: from: "Fantasy 3-6" Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, Gerry Mulligan, Carson Smith - September 2, 1952 Tracks 14 - 19:from: "Complete Pacific Jazz"Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Whitlock October 15-16, 1952 Tracks 20 - 21: from: "Fantasy 3-6" Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, Gerry Mulligan, Carson Smith - January 3, 1953 | |
| Disc #2 Tracks 1-2:from: "Fantasy 3-6" Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton, Gerry Mulligan, Carson Smith - January 3, 1953 Tracks 3-4: from: "Complete Pacific Jazz"Chet Baker, Larry Bunker, Lee Konitz, Joe Mondragon, Gerry Mulligan - February, 1953 August 15, 1952 Tracks 5-12: from: "Complete Pacific Jazz"Chet Baker, Larry Bunker, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Carson Smith - January-February, 1953 Tracks 13 - 16: from:"Tentette" Chet Baker, Pete Candoli, Don Davidson, Bob Enevoldsen, John Graas, Chico Hamilton, Joe Mondragon, Gerry Mulligan, Bud Shank, Ray Siegel - January 29, 1953 Tracks 17-20: from: "Tentette"Chet Baker, Larry Bunker, Pete Candoli, Don Davidson, Bob Enevoldsen, John Graas, Joe Mondragon, Gerry Mulligan, Bud Shank, Ray Siegel - January 31, 1953 Tracks 21 - 24: from: "Complete Pacific Jazz"Chet Baker, Larry Bunker, Gerry Mulligan, Carson Smith - February 24, 1953 | |
| Disc #3 Tracks 1-16: from: "Complete Pacific Jazz" Dave Bailey, Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Crow, Gerry Mulligan - March 27, April 27, 29, 30, May 7, 1953 Tracks 17 - 21: from: from: "La Salle Pleyel - Paris Bob Brookmeyer, Frank Isola, Red Mitchel, Gerry Mulligan - June 1, 1954 | |
| Disc #4All Tracks: from: "La Salle Pleyel - Paris Bob Brookmeyer, Frank Isola, Red Mitchel, Gerry Mulligan - June 3, 5 & 7, 1954 | |
LINER NOTES |
Gerry Mulligan was one of the most versatile figures in modern jazz. A musician who made his original reputation as an arranger and composer of big band scores that were characterized by intricate inner parts, careful balancing of timbres, low dynamics and light swing. Mulligan, the composer/arranger, was obviously influenced by the sounds he heard at a young age when he stated, "When I was a kid, growing up, there was a lot of music on radio, and I loved the bands. There was a lot of variety among the bands. They ran the gamut. And for a kid growing up it was an exciting time. The bands were important. The leaders were famous, respected. I liked the music from the time I was little, everything, classical, jazz, show music, whatever I could hear'." Mulligan's desire to be a musician was apparent from an early age, Mulligan stated; "It was conditioned in me from childhood to have a band to write for bands, to play for bands. I have a feeling that no matter what era I lived in, a hundred years ago or a hundred years from now, I'd always be interested in orchestration. It's one of those things that's a mystery to anybody who doesn't have an ear or talent for orchestration: why does some kid come along and know how it's done? And when I was a kid I knew how it was done and I wanted to do it. I really wanted to go to music school and study composition but I never got the chance. My family thought I was crazy, that I was being cute and showing off." He'll come to his senses someday will want to become somthing real!" But of course, I never did. I never came to my senses. To me the, music was real" Gerald Joseph Mulligan was born in New York City on April 6, 1921. Mulligan's father, named George, was from Wilmington, Delaware. His family had come over from Ireland sometime around the 1850's. Mulligan's mother was half-Irish, her mother was born in Germany , and her father's family was Protestant Irish. Gerry was the youngest of four boys, in order: George, Ohil, Ron, Gerry. All three of his brothers became, like their father, engineers, and Gerry's father wanted him to become one. Before Gerry was one year old his is family moved to Marion, Ohio. From Ohio, the Mulligans moved to Chicago, followed by a move to; Kalamazoo, where Gerry first received some training on piano, Mulligan stated; "In Kalamazoo, I wanted to take trumpet, but I got sidetracked onto clarinet, because I liked Artie Shaw a lot, and I liked the Thornhill band, with Irving Fazola. I loved the sound of Irving FazoIa, one thing led to another. I wrote my first arrangement in Kalamazoo.' From Kalamazoo the Mulligans moved to Detroit. Mulligan recalled. "We went from Kalamazoo to Detroit. There wasn't music proliferating in the schools. There was no such thing as jazz courses. And no such thing, really, as available lessons on an instrument. Music was a very separate and separated thing. But there was music around. Detroit was where I got totally hooked on boogie woogie piano players. I loved Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson and Pinetop, that whole era. It was such joyful, funny, dynamic music. In Detroit we had at least one thing: the Michigan Theatre played bands. That's one of the days I can pinpoint accurately: I knew where I was on the seventh December 1941. It was Sunday and I was at the Michigan Theatre to hear Erskine Hawkins. I loved that band." After leaving Detroit the Mulligans moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, where Gerry's father worked for a company that made an alloy of beryllium and copper. Gerry worked at that plant during one summer holiday as a mail boy. He saved the money he earned to buy his first clarinet. Gerry now took lessons from a teacher at the music stare, Sammy Correnti. In Reading, at high school, Mulligan formed a quartet that played for school dances. About this time Gerry also began to collect stock arrangements and get musicians together and rehearse. His first big band got some gigs at gymnasiums, school and church dances. Mulligan also played in the bands that played the many private clubs in Pennsylvania, as he recalled, "In Reading there was a piano player named Dave Stephens, who played with one of the studio bands in Philadelphia. I was in sophomore high school, but was playing with the professionals in town." From Reading the Mulligans moved to Philadelphia where Gerry attended the West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys. While at school Mulligan bought an altosax, a little while later a tenor and finally bought a baritone saxophone but he did not play it until after he left school and worked professionally as an arranger, then he began to concentrate on playing the big horn. At high school Mulligan had put together a dance band that played assemblies at various schools. Mulligan wrote the arrangements for the band. Around this time Gerry also began to contribute arrangements to Johnny Warrington's band, the house band al radio station WCAU. During his senior year at high school Gerry decided he had enough and went to the school office and announced, "I'm leaving school, I have my father's permission. I'm going on the road with a band'.' Mulligan recalled, "I went home and told my family what I was doing. My father didn't put up a big argument because, I think, he had lost his taste for trying to direct us. And obviously I was so far removed from his ideal of engineer that I didn't even warrant consideration'. In 1945, Gerry Mulligan was 17 going on 18, Tommy Tucker's mickey mouse band played Philadelphia's Earls Theatre. Mulligan met Tucker backstage at the theatre and was offered an arrangers` job, 100 dollars a week for two jump or three ballad arrangements. Mulligan's three months with the Tommy Tucker band gave him his first experience on the road with a name band as an arranger. Mulligan recalled, "I never managed to make the three ballads or two jumps a week. But I got pretty close, wrote a lot of music for Tommy. My arrangements for Tommy started to get more and more wild, although I think Tommy liked what I did. After three months, Tommy said, "It's been very nice, and you've done a lot of good things for the band, but I think you're ready to move on to another band because I think my band is a little too tame for you. I want you to know, Gerry, that if you ever want to go into business or anything like that, I really would be glad to help you in anything except a band". After leaving Tommy Tucker, Mulligan returned to Philadelphia. He discovered that Johnny Warrington no longer led the band at WCAU and that the band was taken over by Elliot Lawrence, an ex child star in Philadelphia, who had led the band on the Horn and Haddart Kiddies' hour. Mulligan began to write for Elliot Lawrence and occasionally played alto sax with the band. It was around 1945, while broadcasting with Elliot Lawrence's band, that Gerry first met Charlie Parker, who insisted he jam one night at a club in Philadelphia. In 1946, Gerry began to arrange for Gene Krupa's band. Mulligan recalled, "I wrote for Krupa in '46 and was with the band most of that year. I played with the band a couple of times, pressed into service to help out. Like a fool I always carried my horns with me, so if somebody got sick or tired on the road I wound up playing. One time they fired an alto player, another time a tenor player. I learned a lot of playing with those guys. I was out of my league as a saxophone player. They were really good." At the age of 19, Mulligan arranged "How high the moon" and arranged and composed Disc Jockey Jump" for Krupa, two of the first dance band pieces to incorporate a bebop melody and chord progression. Gene Krupa reluctantly fired Mulligan when he accused the band of shoddy playing. Krupa agreed, but Gerry had made the mistake of airing has complaint in a pubic place. As time went on Mulligan became more diplomatic, but no more tolerant of imperfection. It was not long after his departure from the Gone Krupa band that the part time alto and tenor player became a full time baritone saxophonist. Mulligan recalled "lt must have been early '47, at some point after I'd been working and playing with bands for a while I don't really know why but I wound up selling my other horns and just kept the baritone. I don't know why, but I spent a lot of time going to sessions and playing only baritone. Because of Charlie Parker arid Lester Young especially, the alto and tenor were more and more popular in the music evolving then. There wasn't so much competition on the baritone. I don't know that I over thought in terms of competition. I certainly picked the right instrument, we, were up to our earlobes in alto and tenor players and good ones. Harry Carney was an obvious inspiration. At that time there were some good baritone players with bands. Carney was an influence because the relationship Carney had to the sound of the band was essential to Duke's music. That had an effect on me, I never tried to sound like Carney, I couldn't, impossible but the fact that any band that used the instrument well, the baritone had an effect on the sound. Ozzie Nelson had a wonderful band, very musical, and the basic style of writing was the full ensemble playing with the baritone obbligatos. Dean Kincaide was the baritone player and wrote a lot of charts for that band That had its effect on me. Ernie Caceres was a wonderful baritone player, then later Serge Chaloff came along. He was the first to incorporate the kind of dynamic solos that came from Charlie Parker. Then other guys came along. I liked Leo Parker. I was out playing with my own group by the time I heard Pepper Adams and Cecil Payne." Mulligan's love of the Claude Thornhill band connected Gerry with Gil Evans, who arranged for the Thornhill band. While working in Philadelpia, Evans waged (sic) Gerry to come to New York. Evans brought Mulligan into Claude Thornhill's band in 1948. Gerry soon caused a stir in musician's circles with his charts of "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Godchild" and "Elevation" which he wrote for Claude Thornhill's orchestra during the summer of 1948. What is particularly interesting about these early works is the gradual move away from the angular contours of bop towards smoother, less frantic forms of expression. Mulligan's contributions, both as a baritone player and writer, to the classic "Birth of the cool" recordings by the Miles Davis Nonet between 1948 and 1950 considerably raised his public profile. He was the most original and prolific of the five arrangers, Gil Evans, John Lewis, Johnny Carisi, Miles Davis and Mulligan, who contributed to these historic sides. Mulligan contributed five of the twelve numbers the group recorded for Capitol, arrangements of George Wallington's "Godchild" and Eddie De Lange and Jimmy Van Heusen's "Darn that dream"and his own compositions "Jeru', Venus de Milo" and Rocker .' Gil Evens may, quite justifiably, be seen as the major figure in the creation of this band, the content of its music and the subsequent extension of its ideas. but the contributions of Mulligan, and John Lewis for that matter, have not always been appropriately recognized. Gerry recalled this period as follows "It was an arranger's band. I connected with Gil Evans because I loved the Claude Thornhill band. I admired Gil and Claude and Bill Borden. The guys connected with that band were phenomenal. The sound of that band was so beautiful. Gil and I became good friends. He was always an inspiration to me. I was living in Philadelphia and Gil said "Enough already! You have to come to New York where everything is happening!" Gil's place used to be a gathering place for arrangers. There was always a parade in and out of there: John Carisi, George Russell, Dave Lambert, John Benson Brooks, John Lewis. It was always a subject of discussion how to have the freedom and the dynamism you get from the little group. The soloist and rhythm section the hot bebop groups we all liked, plus having the capabilities to orchestrate music that would be of interest to the writers. That's how we wound up with the instrumentation. (trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, alto sax, baritone sax, piano, bass, drums). It gave us possibilities in both directions, for both the writers and the player." "Miles used to come down an listen to the conversations. We were the arrangers, but Miles was the one who went out and made the phone calls and reserved the studios, and with Miles as the lead trumpet sound, that gave us a stylistic direction to everything we did. If it had been somebody else, Clifford Brown or Fats Navarro, the sound would have been different. We would have applauded it differently. We put into effect the lesson we'd learned, the idea that a band any band but especially a jazz band reflects the players that are in it; what we learned from Duke, Miles was perfect. Given his sound and melodic approach, everything else followed naturally. I really enjoyed writing for that band." DISC ONE : WALKIN' SHOES Despite the powerful influence of the Miles Davis nonet and its later critical acclaim, the band's commercial prospects at the time were bleak. The band's three week stint at the Royal Roost failed to lead to steady work. The next few years found Mulligan scuffling simply to get by. He continued to supply arrangements for Claude Thornhill and Elliot Lawrence. He also wrote arrangements for the small bands of Kai Winding (Godchild" and "Sleepy bop" from April 1949) and Brew Moore (the May 1949 "Lestorian mode" session). Although Mulligan initially came under Charlie Parker's spell, these arrangements tell us that he was now absorbing the lessons of Lester Young, rationalizing both his playing and his writing in favour of a conspicuously melodic, linear approach. With the decline of the big bands including that of his beloved Claude Thornhill band, Mulligan's focus veered to the small band context. Around 1950 he experimented with a concept that would later make him famous, a rhythm section with no piano. At the Red Door, a rehearsal room in midtown Manhattan, Mulligan assembled his first pianoless quartet that featured trumpeter Tony Fruscella, bassist Phil Leshin, drummer Walter Bolden and Mulligan himself. But Mulligan slowly went broke, his situation was not helped by a heroin addiction he had acquired by this time. There is little to show for this period except a September 1951 recording session, which opens this 4 CD box set. Gerry's ten piece band assembled for this session shows the influence of the Miles Davis nonet and anticipates the writing he would do for a similar group in Los Angeles. The Mulligan tentet on this occasion included trumpeters Jerry Lloyd and Nick Travis, tenor saxophonist Allen Eager and, a rhythm section of pianist George Wallington, bassist Phil Leshin and drummer Walter Bolden. Mulligan's girlfriend at the time, Gail Madden, played maracas on this date which produced music that reflected this bleak searching time in which it was produced. Shortly after this recording session Mulligan with Gail Madden left New York for California, hitchhiking on a long trip that included stopovers in Reading and Albuquerque. After arriving in Los Angeles, Mulligan quickly sold some arrangements to Stan Kenton including "Swing House" and "Youngblood" a masterwork the era. He also played in some weekend sessions at the Lighthouse. His fortunes took a turn for the better when in the spring of952 he secured a regular Monday night job at the Haig, a converted bungalow, that housed a small jazz club on Wilshire Boulevard and Kenmore. The Monday night sessions at the Haig featured a rotating group of musicians that included Ernie Royal, alto saxophonist Sunny Cress, pianists Fred Otis or Jimmy Rowles, bassists Joe Comfort, Red Mitchell or Joe Mondragan and drummers Alvin Stoller and Chico Hamilton plus assorted visitors. One of those visitors was trumpeter Chet Baker who from the beginning of July 1952 began to sit in with the Mulligan group at their Monday night sessions. Baker, a twenty two year old trumpeter at the time, had gained a degree of local recognition, playing with Charlie Parker on the altoist's West Coast tour of June 1952. Baker sat in with Mulligan for several Mondays and with each performance their musical rapport grew. Richard Bock, a balding, bespectacled young man who served as publicity man for the Haig had also worked as A& R man and producer for the Discovery label. Bock felt that Mulligan ought to be recorded and organised a makeshift recording session for Mulligan in the afternoon of June 10, 1952 at the Laurel Canyon bungalow of PhiI Turetsky, a recording engineer. The date was planned as a quartet date, but as pianist Jimmy Rowles failed to show up, Mulligan cut three sides accompanied by bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Chico Hamilton on Turetsky's Ampex recorder. Mulligan was dissatisfied with these recordings, he felt the instrumentation was too sparse and had spent much of the session doubling on piano. On July 9, 1952, Mulligan had another try, that Baker was invited this time as was pianist Jimmy Rowles and bassist Joe Mondragon. The drumless quartet recorded two sides at this session, which were an improvement over the previous date, although the presence of Jimmy Rowles prevented the music from taking off. During his regular Monday night gigs at the Haig Mulligan continued to work on his new concept. The ever present Dick Bock recounted what happened next: "In mid July of 1952 the Haig booked the Red Norvo Trio for an engagement of indefinite length. The trio at that time consisted of Red Mitchell on bass and TaI Farlow on guitar. Inasmuch as the trio did not use a piano, and since Gerry had insisted that he would rather play the Monday night sessions without the piano, Haig owner John Bennett decided to put the piano In storage." It was this decision that brought Chet Baker, Chico Hamilton and a young bass player from Long Beach by the name of Bob Whitlock to form the first Mulligan pianoless quartet. The first pianoless quartet session took place on August 16, 1952, after the group had played together for five successive Monday nights at the Haig. "Bernie's tune" a minor key 32 bar AABA tune, written by Bernie Miller, was a popular tune for jamming with musicians at the time. Mulligan often stated that his aim was to simplify rather than complicate and this is certainly the case with his handling of "Bernie's tune" with its tightly orchestrated unisons by trumpet, baritone sax and bass, Mulligan's improvised background behind Chet's solo, the carefully arranged drum part that underpins the proceedings and the somewhat strained "baroque" passage before the final chorus. "Lullaby of the leaves" with its sparse background figures and economy of purpose was another pointer towards the exceptional empathy that was to develop between Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, although both Mulligan and Baker seem to feel the absence of a piano player at this stage. Dick Bock released "Bernie's tune" and "Lullaby of the leaves" as the first single on his newly founded Pacific Jazz label, set up with two thousand dollars of his own and another two thousand from Roy Harte, the drummer, who also owned a successful Hollywood drum shop. The success of the record put Pacific Jazz in business and helped to give the Gerry Mulligan quartet its first big break. Less than a month after their initial Pacific Jazz recording session the Gerry Mulligan quartet travelled up the coast for an engagement at San Francisco's Blackhawk, a week opposite Dave Brubeck. Bassist Bob Whitlock could not make the trip, so Chet Baker recommended Carson Smith, a young bassist from San Francisco who idolised Mulligan. In San Francisco the group was recommended to the Fantasy label by Dave Brubeck. Brubeck was the main artist on the Fantasy label run by the brothers Max and Sol Weiss. Fantasy invited the Gerry Mulligan Quartet to record. The group recorded four sides for Fantasy on September 2, 1952. Mulligan contributed two originals "Line for Lyons" and "Bark for Barksdale," both dedicated to local DJ's Jimmy Lyons and Don Barksdale respectively, plus two standards: Gus Kahn and Vincent Youmans "The Carioca" and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "My Funny Valentine" : The first chorus of "Line for Lyons" states the seductive thirty two bar melody, Baker states the theme, Mulligan provides the counterpoint followed by sixteen bars of improvisation by Mulligan and Baker. Mulligan's phrases are echoed by Baker in the third chorus before the melody is restated in the final eight bars. Mulligan's trademarks of tight polyphony, subtle dynamics and cohesive group interplay have rarely sounded better than on "Line for Lyons." Mulligan's chart of "The Carioca" has the airy, gliding quality of Fred Astaire who performed the tune with Ginger Rogers in the film "Flying down to Rio". "My Funny Valentine" features Chet Baker who plays the tune as written, stretching out its slow, spare phrases accompanied at first by Carson Smith's walking bass, then by other members of the quartet, ending with some exquisite counterpoint with Gerry's baritone sax. "My Funny Valentine" became a big jazz hit. Thanks to his shrewd dedications to Jimmy Wins and Don Barksdale, Mulligan was deified on West Coast radio, while Ralph GIeason anointed him the new genius of jazz, reporting that "The quartet's fantastic, fugueish, funky, swinging and contrapuntal sound" had every musician in town "shaking his head in wonder". As for Baker, once he found out how to "project his personality to the audience and not rely on the music completely," Gleason wrote "he could be sensational." Back in LA, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet recorded for Pacific Jazz in the more up market surroundings of LA's Gold Star Studios. Bob Whitlock returned on bass for this October 15, 1952 session. "Nights at the turntable" is typical of the engaging originals Mulligan wrote for the group. Mulligan and Baker open in unison on this 36 bar AABA composition. A brief segment of open and closed harmony is followed by four bars in unison, while precise contrapuntal lines are introduced in the middle eight and final section. "Soft shoe" and "Walkin' shoes" are the other two Mulligan originals recorded on this date. Both tunes display an engaging mixture of simple part writing and orderly, rhythmic counterpoint. Chet Baker contributed "Freeway" to this session, an up tempo vehicle, which is all hustle and bustle, providing a sharp contrast with Mulligan's easy middle tempos which highlighted the comfortable interplay between the musicians in the quartet, especially Mulligan and Baker. Two standards, Alberto Dominguez's "Frenesi" and Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen's "Aren't you glad you're you?" rounded off this successful recording date. By now the Gerry Mulligan Quartet had become the star attraction at the Haig. The group had moved from the off night slot to the weekends, drawing overflowing crowds throughout a tenure that lasted from the autumn of 1952 until the summer of 1953. The first five months of 1953 found the Gerry Mulligan Quartet at the height of its popularity. Gerry had been lionised by an article in Time magazine, but his sometimes haughty attitude on stage began to irritate certain punters at the Haig, whose attention now shifted to Chet Baker. Baker already commanded the eyes of female customers and the ears of other musicians. Fellow trumpeter Jack Sheldon stated. "He had sound that could be like candy, just gorgeous'; while Carson Smith added, "I hear, Chet night after night, and I very seldom heard him repeat himself. I don't know. where it all came from'." In January 1953, the quartet travelled one more to San Francisco. By this time Carson Smith had permanently replaced Bob Whitlock. On January 3, the quartet record for Fantasy. Gerry Mulligan's "Limelight and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "The lady is a tramp." DISC TWO: WESTWOOD WALK The January 3, 1953 session produced two more sides with the Mulligan original "Turnstile" and the relatively new (at the time) Karl Suessdorf and John Blackburn standard "Moonlight in Vermont". ln early 1953 the Gerry Mulligan Quartet recorded a number of sides with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. Konitz came through California with the Stan Kenton band and sat in with the Mulligan quartet on a number of occasions. Some of these recordings were made live at the Haig, others in recording studios. Confusion reigns about the exact recording dates of these sides so I have kept them safely as January/February 1953; Lee Konitz became the outstanding saxophone soloist in the cool style of jazz, with his smooth sound with few overtones and no vibrato. Konitz was born in Chicago in 1927 and studied clarinet with a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in his youth. After taking up alto saxophone Konitz joined the band of clarinettist Jerry Wald and in 1947 joined the ClaudeThornhill band. This established his contact with Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evans and Miles Davis. Konitz played a leading part in the "Birth of the Cool" recordings by the Miles Davis Nonet. During the late 1940s Konitz also began his association with Lennie Tristano, under whose influence and tutelage Konitz's mature style emerged. After touring Scandinavia in 1951 Konitz joined the Stan Kenton band in 1957, in which he soon emerged as its star soloist. The introduction of Konitz into Mulligan's tightly knit ensemble was not entirely successful but these sides produced memorable performances from the alto saxophonist and provide a fascinating study of the effect Konitz had on the quartet and vice versa. Bassist Joe Mondragon replaced Carson Smith on what was probably the first session with Konitz, recorded at Phil Turetsky's bungalow. Mondragon, a self taught musician had worked with dance hands around Los Angeles, played wlth Woody Harman in 1945 and was much in demand as a session musician at the time of these recordings. Drummer Chico Hamilton, who had proved such an asset to the Gerry Mulligan quartet with his ability to swing while keeping his volume to a level compatible with the group sound, had left the group after being offered a lucrative job as accompanist for Lena Horne. His replacement Larry Bunker was a versatile musician, equally adept behind a set of drums, or as a player of keyed percussion instruments (especially vibraphone) and timpani. "I can't believe that you're in love with me" and "Lady be good" apparently stem from that first season. The solos are kept short to accommodate the three minute format of the 78 rpm single. The studio versions of "Broadway", "Almost like being in love" and "Sextet" may have been recorded a little later. Konitz is now a little more integrated into the quartet. This becomes notable by his doubling in harmonizing Mulligan's lines an octave higher and providing interesting tonal colour in doing, so, and Konitz occasionally doubling Chet Baker's part in unison or simple harmony. The Iive recordings from the Haig show us a more fiery Konitz than was usual in those years as he effectively dominates a group that had previously relied on a fine balance of leading and secondary voices in both ensemble and solo passages. On the two ballads "These foolish things" and "Loverman" Konitz's big feature number with the Kenton band Mulligan and Baker take a back seat as Konitz works out closer to his usual relaxed and lyrical style. Konitz reels chorus after chorus of inspired effortless improvisation on "Too marvelous for words" and "I'll remember April." Mulligan, with his arranger's skill, seems secure in improvising accompaniments behind Konitz, but Chet Baker is strangely subdued and sounds tentative in his few solos on these sides. At the end of January 1952, Mulligan entered the recording studio with a ten piece band. The Gerry Mulligan Tentette appears as a logical continuum of Mulligan's generally overlooked role in helping to midwife the "Birth of the Cool" dates. The band included some of the finest West Coast musicians of the day. Joining Mulligan were trumpeters Chet Baker and Pete Candoli; valve-trombonist Bob Envoldsen; Frnch horn player John Graas; Ray Siegel, tuba; Bud Shank, alto sax, Don Davidson, baritone sax; Joe Mondragon, bass and drummer Chico Hamilton. Mulligan recalled the formation of his Tentette in Robert Gordon's essential "West Coast Jazz." Mulligan stated: "When we were first playing at the Haig with the quartet, I started the Tentette as a rehearsal band to have something to write for. After a time, Gene Norman, a Los Angeles promoter and disc jockey, came to me and said he'd like to record the band. Since no one else had suggested recording us, I said yes." Gene Norman offered the date to Capitol Records, in exchange for the use of Capitol's union recording licence, which enabled him to record the Gerry Mulligan Tentette. Norman had made a similar arrangement with the initial Shorty Rogers and his Giants session. Capitol released the Mulligan and Shorty Rogers session on their "Modern Sounds" album. Apparently, Capitol Records was planning to approach Mulligan direct in order to record for the label. When Gene Norman had made his new offer, they found it unethical to proceed. Mulligan later felt that had he recorded directly for the label he might have had "more albums to show for our work." Mulligan pointed out that the Tentette was essentially the quartet with the ensemble instruments of the Miles Davis nonet. Both his compositions and arrangements favor the subdued lyricism and tone colors displayed by the Davis nonet. "A ballad" with its Claude Thornhill-like "Clouds of sound" and gorgeous low-register scoring is totally convincing. The complete performance of this 44 bar AABA song, with the A sections of 12 bars and a B section of 8 bars, comprises just one chorus of the song plus a four bar tag. On Both "Westwood Walk" and "Walkin' Shoes" Mulligan successfully captures the engaging characteristics of his quartet with a larger ensemble. The emphasis in "Westwood Walk" is on hard swing with Chico Hamilton booting the bans along, while the overall volume is well under control, exemplified by Mulligan's writing for the ensemble after the solo choruses. "Walkin' Shoes" was one of the most successful repertoire pieces of the quartet. Mulligan's Tentette version of the tune captures the poise of the smaller group, but lacks the intimacy of the erlier quartet version of the tune. "Rocker" was recorded by the Miles Davis Nonet and is one of Mulligan's most engaging compositions. The Tentette version sound thinner than the Miles Davis Nonet version on "The birth of the cool". Mulligan stays basically with the same arrangement bar a variation on the theme that closed the earlier version. Two days later the Tentette's session continued, but by this time Larry Bunker replaced Chico Hamilton on drums. "Takin' a chance on lova" showcases Mulligan's piano and also highlights Chet Baker's hesitant poignancy. "Flash" was originally omitted from the "Modern Sounds" album. The new chord changes come at the rate of one every beat on this 32 bar AABA song. "Flash" opens like a small-group performance with Mulligan's piano, Baker's trumpet and Shank's alto sax taking successive choruses. The ensemble emerges briefly after Bud Shank's Konitz like chorus, before Mulligan's "arranger's' piano introduces the ensemble proper. "Simbah" is the fastest piece of the entire Mulligan Tentette session. Mulligan experiments here with a minimum of chord changes over an extended composition of 48 bars. After the exposition of the unusual AABAA theme, Mulligan never returns to it, but gives us an example of masterful writing in the more lyrical second section while creating a sense of rhythmic suspension in the coda. There is a lot of musical action in a short space of time here, but Mulligan keeps it uncluttered in its logical progrssion from one idea to another. "Ontet" was the other side that was omitted from the "Modern Sounds" album. On this variation of George Wallington's "Godchild" Mulligan's "arrangers" piano introduces the harmonic movement of the sang rather than revealing any of its melodic contours. Mulligan uses the group more fully in this exercise in tone colours. While the spirit of the "Birth of the Cool"had already taken root on the West Coast by the time of these recordings, especially with the Shorty Rogers Octet sides that were recorded a year before these Tentette sides were done, these early Mulligan sides rank among the finest jazz sides emanating from the West Coast at this time. As interesting as the recordings with Lee Konitz and the Tentette are, the Gerry Mulligan quartet itself was far from idle during the early months of 1953. With its new rhythm section of Carson Smith and Larry Bunker, the group returned to the recording studios on February 24, 1953, to cut four sides for Pacific Jazz. By now the group was expanding its repertoire with a variety of originals and sometimes quite unusual standards. Don Redman's good old "Cherry" suffers from the quartets very stylised delivery, that did not gel with an attempted humour of a Dixieland coda. Carson Smith's "Carson City Stage", in which Mulligan shows his bebop roots, works much better. Drummer Larry Bunker pushes the band with greater intensity than usual here while the group's use of rhythmic displacements, its solos and counterpoint are full of surprising twisted turns. "Makin' whoopee" reveals the deeper modern roots of Mulligan's work. He customizes this Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn standard into the quartet's carefully prescribed world of gruff melody and tactful counterpoint, for it to emerge as a typically ingratiating performance. As usual it is Mulligan's originals that are the most captivating. "Motel" is built around a descending figure answered by a motif built around the interval of a fourth to use as a specific feature of a melody line. The middle eight here is based on the descending cycle of fourths. DISC THREE: SWING HOUSE On March 27,1953 the Gerry MuIIigan Quartet recorded three sides for Pacific Jazz of which we feature "Festive Minor" and "My old iar Festive minor" is a Mulligan original written in F minor. The tune would later be recorded by subsequent Mulligan ensembles on the Columbia and Mercury labels. The March 27, 1953 recording of the tune is a trio performance for a large part of the performance when Mulligan's baritone plays the theme and subsequently sets off on a lengthy solo. Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston's standard "My old flame" is performed at a slow tempo with melodic solos by both Mulligan and Baker. As the quartet's popularity took off, Gerry needed to expand the group's repertoire quickly, so it is hardly surprising that turned to numbers with which he was familiar. He spent almost all day every day at home rehearsing and writing. "Everything was music", Jeffie Boyd said. Jeffie Boyd was the new woman in Mulligan's life. After having broken up with Gail Madden, he proposed to Jeffie Boyd a smart, vivacious brunette in her early twenties. Jeffie had grown up in New York, and to her Los Angeles was an intellectual vacuum, Mulligan's brains and spiky sense of humor attracted her. They eloped to Mexico, then honeymooned in "Palm Springs or some place " according to Jeffie. During their stay there Gerry unsuccessfully tried to quit heroin. On April 27, 29 and 30, the quartet recorded a number of sides, some of which Mulligan had worked on in the past. "Darn that dream" and "Jeru" had been used in the "Birth of the cool" sessions. "Swing House" was from an arrangement Mulligan had contributed to Stan Kenton and "I may be wrong" derived from a chart Mulligan had written for Chubby Jackson. The Mulligan originals "Swing House" and "Jeru" are especially interesting. "Swing House" based on "Sweet Georgia Brown" includes some delicious harmonies in the chase chorus. The quartet's version of "Jeru" differs dramatically from the "Birth of the Cool" arrangement of the same tune. This version lacks the unorthodox metres and structure that Mulligan used in his original arrangement, as he uses a conventional thirty two bar AABA framework here. For some reason the Garry Mulligan Quartet seemed at its best with cut-time medium tempo numbers, a device that brings a quiet integrity to "I'm beginning to see the light", the Duke Ellington tune that gave Helen Forrest a smash hit with the Harry James Orchestra. Mulligan and Baker alluded to a larger ensemble with its powerful unisons but they clearly get a kick out of the old warhorse here. Irving Caesar and Vincent Youman's "Tea for two" provides the chords for an ingenious variation that delightfully alters the standard's melody line. The final studio session of this Gerry Mulligan Quartet took place on May 7, 1953, when the group recorded six sides for Gene Norman, which were subsequently released on Normans GNP-Crescendo label. Versions of Miles Davis' "Half Nelson", Kurt Weill's "Speak low", Buddy De Sylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson's "Varsity Drag"; Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson's " Love me or leave me"; Mulligan's "Swing house"; and Tadd Dameron's "Lady Bird" disguised as a study in counterpoint. These are confident and sometimes exuberant statements of young men at one with their art. On May 20, 7953 the Gerry Mulligan Cutest recorded a live session at the Haig for release on the Pacific Jazz label. These were the final recorded performances of the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet. Shortly after these recordings were made, Mulligan was arrested on narcotics charges and was sentenced to six months improsonment at the Sheriff's Honor Farm. Mulligan's Imprisonment marked the and of his association with Chat Baker. During their year together their uncanny rapport would never be recaptured again on subsequent reunion sessions. By dispensing with a piano Mulligan had created a group that was unique in jazz. It respected the primacy of the improviser, both in shaping the ensemble sound and min creating an environment for the soloist to flourish. Mulligan had found a niche that he would subsequently develop with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and trumpeter Jon Eardley. Mulligan had limited tone colours at his disposal within his quartet, but through his clever part writing, well conceived transitional passages and judicious counterpoint, he created a context in which both baritone sax and trumpet functioned effectively within the clearly prescribed limitations of their respective styles. With Mulligan in prison the Gerry Mulligan Quartet broke up at the peak of its fame as the most popular jazz combo of its time. Chet Baker now engaged pianest Russ Freeman and continued to work as leader of the Chet Baker Quartet, which began to record successfully for Pacific Jazz in July 1953, but in spite of the success of the Chet Baker Quartet, Chet wanted to work again with Mulligan. Mulligan was released from Sheriff's Honor Farm a few days after Christmas 1953. Shortly after this Chet ran into Gerry on Hollywood Boulevard. Baker says it was Mulligan who brought up the subject of re-establishing the group. Due to the Mulligan Quartet's success, Chet Baker won both the critics and readers polls in Down Beat and Metronome magazine in 1953. After working for $125 per week during the quartet's eleven month stint at the Haig the trumpeter felt he deserved more money, Chet was willing to rejoin Mulligan, but the notoriously mean baritone saxophonist turned down Chet's request to double his salary. This rejection prevented their reunion. Chet stated, "It had nothing to do with music. Gerry's problem was that he could not comprehend that someone he employed could do it alone and make a success of things without him." This was what Chet Baker did during the following few years, before sliding into drug addiction a few years later. After failing to reunite his original quartet, Gerry rang valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and invited him to join the quartet he was reforming in California. Mulligan also asked Brookmeyer to select a rhythm section in New York and come out to Los Angeles for rehearsals. Brookmeyer had studied piano and composition at the Conservatory of Kansas City, his place of birth. After army service he joined the band of Tex Beneke, on piano in 1951, followed by stints, mostly on piano, with Ray McKinley, Louis Prima, Claude Thornhill (on second piano and trombone), Jerry WaId, Terry Gibbs and Woody Herman. In 1953 Brookmeyer joined the Stan Getz Quartet on valve trombone. Brookmeyer brought over bassist Bill Anthony and drummer Frank Isola to form Mulligan's rhythm section. Anthony had studied bass with Clyde Lombardi and had worked with Buddy De Franca Georgie Auld, Charlie Spivak and Jimmy Dorsey. Drummer Frank lsola first hit the road in 1947 with the Earle Spencer Big Band and Johnny Bothwell. In New York from 1948 Isola worked in a variety of musical settings including Babs Gonzales, Elliot Lawrence, Claude Thornhill, Louis Prima, Peggy Lee, Charlie Parker and Stan Getz. Boookmeyer, Anthony and Isola played their first concert in Los Angeles with the Gerry Mulligan Tentette, during its rehearsal period. The new Gary Mulligan Quartet made its debut at the Black Hawk club in San Fransisco. Mulligan's style immediately clicked with Brookmeyer's, whose valve trombone work is also infused with traditional as well as modern elements. The group's next engagement was at George Wein's Storyville Club in Boston, after which the quartet played Toronto, followed by a stint at New York's Basin Street opposite the Gone Krupa Quartet in April 1954. During ther stay at Basin Street, Mulligan replaced Bill Anthony with Red Mitchell. Mitchell had originally studied piano for nine years before switching to bass while he was a member of an army band based in Germany. After his discharge he played with Jackie Paris, Mundell Lowe, Chubby Jackson, Charlie Ventura, Woody Herman and Red Norvo, with whom he toured Europe. Mitchell recorded with Billy Holiday and Jimmy Raney, his suppleness of tone and style made him one of the favourite bass players among contemporary musicians. In June 1954, the Mulligan Quartet together with Thelonuous Monk and Jonah Jones ware invited to France to play at The Third Salon du Jazz in Paris. During the first week of June 1954, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet duly performed five concerts at the Salle Pleyel, sharing the bill with such talents Thelonious Monk, Martial Salal, Don Byas, Michel de Villers, and Mary Lou Williams plus the orchestras of Jack Dieval, Henry Renaud and Kurt Edelhagen. Disques Vogue recorded four of the Mulligan concerts. The quartet performed mostly repertoire that the original quarter with Chet Baker had already recorded. Bob Brookmeyer's soloing is assured and quietly lyrical in this program of "Bernie's tune", 'Walkin' shoes", "The nearness of you, "Motel" and "Love me or leave me". Certain fans prefer Brookmeyer's work on these sides above the originals with Chet Baker and there is no doubt that Bob Brookmeyer had a great affinity for Mulligan's work. Yet the range of the valve trombone is so similar to that of the baritone sax, that there is little effective contrast between the two horns. DISC FOUR: PARIS CONCERTS Disc Four of our Gerry Mulligan survey contain further recordings from the quartet's memorable week of performances in Paris during June 1954. Many of the Parisian jazz enthusiasts had expected Chet Baker in the line up in Paris, yet the new frontline of Bob Brookmeyer's valve trombone and Gerry Mulligan's baritone sax proved just as acceptable, more so because both Mulligan and Brookmeyer, each an excellent composer and arranger as well, played with total ease and relaxation. The rhythm section that Mulligan had brought to Paris contributed to a considerable extent to the success the quartet enjoyed during their concerts at Salle Pleyel. Frank Isola's fluid yet driving brush work and Rod Mitchell's reliable harmonic ear and firm beat proved crucial in the absence of a piano. Mulligan's music appealed immediately to the Paris audiences, who were won over from the first concert by the quartet. Charles Delauney described the crowd's reaction after the first concert as follows: "Agreeably surprised. Contrary to so many modern musicians whose attitude can be seen to be one of utter boredom, the members of the Mulligan quartet showed their evident pleasure in what they were playing." Disc four continues with the balance of the June I concert consisting of familiar previously recorded quartet tunes like "Soft Shoe", "Bark for Barksdale", My funny Valentine", "Turnstile" and "Utter Chaos" which was used as the closing theme. The second Paris concert that Vogue recorded took place on June 3, 1954, when the Mulligan Quartet immediately followed Thelonious Monk, who had been given an impassioned reception from a divided audience that took Monk's fans as well as his detractors. "Five Brother", a Mulligan tune that was originally recorded by Stan Getz's Five Brothers, a group that included tenor saxophonists Stan Getz, Brew Moore, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Allen Eager in 1949, opens the proceedings in fine swinging mode, but the highlight of this set in my opinion is the quartet's version of Mulligan's "Gold rush" in a hard swinging up-tempo version in which each member of the quartet has his individual say. Other highlights of these Paris concerts that we include in this box set are the two version's of David Raskin's ballad "Laura," a tune that the Mulligan quartet never recorded commercially. Both versions that we include are intriguingly different, the second one played at a much livelier tempo. Other highlights are the quartet's gracious version of Mulligan's "Lin for Lyons" and the Mulligan/Brookmeyer treatment of Karl Suessdorf and John Blackburn's "Moonlight in Vermont" with the arresting fashion in which the baritone and valve trombone "sing" the beautiful melody. Gerry Mulligan was the only baritone saxophone player in the history of jazz who won a popular following on that instrument. He studied piano, clarinet and tenor saxophone, but the baritone sax best expressed his warmth, humour and unerring ear for sensuous fabrics of sound. The fact that Mulligan was the world's leading baritone saxophonist, who made his own various stylistic contributions to jazz development, has never been allowed to interfere with his curiosity about other musicians, and his enjoyment of adventuring with them. Mulligan was generous with his talent and hungry to play. He frequently turned up at jam sessions and recorded with numerous peers from all generations, from Jack Teagarden, Art Hodges and Pete Johnson to Duke Ellington, Teddy Wilson and Billie Holiday. From Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster and Lionel Hampton to Stan Getz, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Astor Piazzolla. From Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Leste Young to Clark Terry, Hampton Hawes and Charlie Parker. Mulligan played with everyone. He once Stated: "They were nice people. I was Lucky. That's what I wanted - to have the opportunity to play with those people and be accepted by them as a musician and a friend." He knew greats and became one himself. Joop Visser |
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