1. Jeru - Birth of the Cool
2. Bernie's Tune - Pacific Jazz
3. Walkin' Shoes - Pacific Jazz
4. Westwood Walk - Pacific Jazz
5. Mainstream - Mainstream of Jazz
6. Blueport - Village Vanguard
7. Move - Re-Birth of the Cool
8. Boplicity - Re-Birth of the Cool
9. Now I Know What I've Missed . . .
10. O Great Spirit

1949

1952

1953

1956

1960

1992

 LINER NOTES

As an instrumentalist, Gerry Mulligan was arguably the most significant baritone saxophonist in the history of jazz. He was a brilliant soloist who was able to communicate on both an intellectual and an emotional level. By using the full range of the instrument, he developed a very personal sound that has been widely imitated but never duplicated. Gerry Mulligan sungle-handedly established the abritone saxophone as a solo voice. As one of the great jazz innovators, his writing and playing influenced entire stylistic movements.

Gerry Mulligan's interest in music began as an early age. As a small child he was exposed to the many big bands that broadcast regularly on the family radio. He was fascinated with the sound of each band and decided early on that he wanted to be an arranger. His early big band writing experience came with the Bands of Tommy Tucker, Johnny Warrington and Elliott Lawrence.

A major turning point in his career came in 1948 when he joined the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. It was during this period that he began to concentrate on playing as well as writing, settling on the baritone saxophone as his primary instrumental voice.

Another turning point was when he met the orchestra's chief arranger, Gil Evans. Both Thornhill and Evans had established the sound of the band, which was based on rich orchestral textures created in part by the orchestra's unique instrumentation. There were French horns, multiple wood winds and a tuba. Gerry found in Gil Evans a musical soulmate that shared his conception of a more linear writing style. erry began spending a great deal of time at Gil's New York apartment on West 55th St. In addition to Gil and Gerry, several other musicians became regulars at the apartment. They included John Lewvis, Johnny Carisi, Lee Konitz, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and George Russell. They all bounced ideas off one another and the outcome of the discussions ushered in a new stylistic concept now known as "The Birth of the Cool."

The musicians that met regularly at the apartment all shared a common enthusiasm in the sound of the Thornhill band, and after much discussion, they came up with an instrumentation for a smaller ensemble that would capture the essence of the Thornhill sound. There were nine pieces in all, with the center of the band being the French horn and the trombone; the trumpet and alto on top and the baritone and tuba on the bottom. Miles Davis assumed the leadership role. He organized the rehearsals and helped secure an engagement at the Royal Roost in New York City.

The engagement only lasted two weeks but fortunately they recorded 12 sides for Capitol Records. At the time it went virtually unnoticed by the public, but musicians picked up on what the nonet had pioneered and, in the years to follow, it made a major impact on the jazz world, significancy changing the direction in which jazz was going. Although Gil Evan is usually credited as the main architect of 'The Birth of the Cool," it was actually Gerry Mulligan who wrote the bulk of compositions. On of the outstanding pieces that was recorded was Mulligan's composition Jeru. Gerry experimented with some bars of 3/4 on the bridge, which was very unique at that time. Jeru was recorded at the first of three nonet sessions and features Miles Davis and Mulligan.

Gerry continued to work around New York but became disenchanted and decided to try the West Coast. In late 1951, he hitchhiked across the country, eventually winding up in Los Angeles. From a jazz standpoint, there wasn't much happening except for a number of jam sessions that took place all over town. Fortunately, he was able to get an arranging job with Stan Kenton, and although they didn't see eye to eye musically, it gave him a source of income. He began sitting in at some of the jam sessions where he met a young trumpet player named Chet Baker. Musically, they hit it off very well and when the opportunity arose, Gerry formed a quartet for an off-night engagement at a small supper club in the Wilshire district called The Haig.

Since the piano rented for Erroll Garner was gone, and the club took out its own upright piano, Gerry decided to form the Gerry Mulligan pianoless quartet. No one, especially Gerry, anticipated was about to happen. The quartet was an instant success. The quartet soon became the star attraction at the Haig and lines formed around the block just to see the group. The uncanny musical rapport between Chet and Gerry was incredible. The Pacific jazz record label was formed immediately by Dick Bock and Roy Harte to record the group and their first single Bernie's Tune, which was a huge success. Gerry Mulligan was now an international jazz celebrity.

At the height of his popularity in California, Gerry ended his relationship with Chet Baker. Gerry soon replaced him with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Replacing the rumpet with another instrument resulted in a diferent sound and approach for the quartet. The first recording with the new quartet was a live concert recording from a performance at the Salle Payel in Paris. Walkin' Shoes was originally written for the Kenton Orchestra and was also recorded by the quartet with Chet Baker.

Another interesting project Gerry undertook, while in California, was a further exploration of a "Birth of the Coal"type ensemble. He formed a ten-piece ensemble that played only one engagement but did record an album for Capitol entitled The Gerry Mulligan Tentette. Westwood Walk from this session is a Mulligan original based on the chord changes of "Fine and Dandy" and features Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan.

In the mid-1950s, Gerry decided to add two more horns to the front line and created a sextet. Although the sextet of that period had not achieved the recognition of some of Gerry's other groups, it was an amazing ensemble that had an individuality unlike any other group before or since. They achieved a perfect balance of ensemble and improvisation. Mainstream is another Mulligan original that features Mulligan, Zoot Sims, Jon Eardley and Bob Brookmeyer.

Throughout the rest of the 1950s, Gerry appeared in a number of settings and was in demand all over the world. Norman Granz recorded a series of albums that featured Gerry Mulligan meeting other saxophonists including Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster and Paul Desmond. Also during this period, he made a memorable appearance on a television special called "The Sound of Jazz' and appeared in a number of motion pictures.

In 1960, Gerry once again formed a larger ensemble that became known as "The Concert Jazz Band.' It was a I 3-piece ensemble that was based on a different orchestral concept. The band was based on the idea of the quartet. There were four reeds, three trombones, three trumpets, bass and drums, and they were treated as voices as opposed to sections. There was an overall lightness to the band that enabled the writers to explore many different textures. Ironically, Gerry was so busy running the business of the band that he didn't have time to write many of the arrangements. Bob Brookmeyer and Bill Holman wrote a great deal of the book, but other writers such as Al Cohn, Gary McFarland and Johnny Mandel also contributed. Blueport is an Art Farmer composition arranged by Al Cohn and features Mulligan, Willie Dennis, Jim Reider, Bill Crow and concludes with an amazing exchange between Mulligan and Clark Terry.

Recorded in January of 1949, Move, written by Denzil Best, a drummer and composer who was noted for his melodic effervescent compositions, was arranged by MJQ's John Lewis. The recording came out of the same session as Jeru and was originally released as a 78 rpm single. This version of the song was produced by Mulligan and John Snyder in 1992 for the album, Re-Birth of the Cool.

Boplicity is another 1949 tune written by Cleo Henry and arranged by Gil Evans. It was not until 1957, however, that it appeared with the other ten instrumentals under the banner of Birth of the Cool. This rendition of Boplicity was recorded again in 1992 when Gerry Mulligan celebrated the landmark recording of Birth of the Cool with renowned jazz critic and writer Leonard Feather remarked, "the 'cool' jazz concept of Gerry Mulligan and Miles Davis was really not reborn because it never really went away."

The final two tracks represent an aspect of Gerry's talent which many people are unfamiliar with. It is Gerry Mulligan the songwriter. Gerry always had a fascination with song and in the late 1950s he and Judy Holliday, stage and film star, began collaborating music for a proposed Broadway show which was based on Anita Loos' "Happy Birthday". Now I Know What I've Missed... is one of the songs from that collaboration. It is produced for this collection by multiple Grammy award-winner Phil Ramone and arranger by Dave Grusin, who also plays piano on the track. Patty Austin renders a beautiful and sensitive vocal interpretation of this little-known but extraordinary ballad. It will stand as a lasting tribute to Gerry Mulligan, the composer.

Through the years, Gerry Mulligan continued to write and, in many instances, wrote the lyrics as well. Most of the songs he wrote have not been performed, but a few were recorded, such as "The Real Thing" (Carol Sloan and Mel Torme), "The Ballad of Pearly Sue" (Susannah McCorkle) and "I Hear the Shadows Dancing" (Nancy Marano). One of the last pieces Gerry wrote was O Great Spirit, the final track on this album. Mulligan originally composed the music to a poem written in 1887 by a Sioux Indian named Chief Yellow Lark. Produced by Phil Ramone, it was recorded at Gerry's final session in December of 1995, just a few weeks before he passed away.

Fortunately for all of us, there is a prolific legacy of recordings from all phases of Gerry Mulligan's brilliant career. The body of work that he produced over six decades establishes him as a true giant of 20th Century music.

The music of Gerry Mulligan will live forever.

-Keri Poston 1996