1. Little Big Horn
2. Under A Star
3. Sun On Stairs
4. Another Kind Of Sunday
5. Bright Angel Falls
6. I Never Was A Young Man

1983

 LINER NOTES

In the late 1940's, Gerry played tenor sax at a special concert featuring some new stars of the day: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sarah Vaughn. Gerry was pleased when a complimentary Parker invited him to a jazz session after the concert. Mulligan thought he'd been invited just to listen, and his heart skipped a measure when Parker insisted he play. The legendary saxophonist actually retrieved Mulligan's tenor from the checkroom, blew a few notes through it, and handed it over to him. There was no refusing. "I was scared to death," Mulligan remembers, "but he was helpful and encouraging. It never hurts to have someone like that give you a shove when you're a kid."

He later moved to New York, where his friendship with Gil Evans led to an association with Miles Davis, who nicknamed him "Jeru." As a composer and player, Gerry figured strongly in Miles' hallmark "Birth of Cool" album. Mulligan was excited to be part of the incredible creativity in New York, but even the best jazz musicians weren't paid a living wage. In 1951, he headed west in search of better opportunities, hitchhiking and playing his way across the U.S. on borrowed horns.

Today, Mulligan is one of the most active and visible figures on the international jazz scene. He is the winner of a 1982 Grammy Award, and holder of an amazing 29 consecutive top awards on baritone saxophone in the Downbeat Magazine readers' poll awards.

"Little Big Horn," Gerry Mulligan's first album that was recorded and digitally mastered for GRP Records, finds him in a new musical environment supported by the studio wizardry of musicians such as keyboardist, composer, arranger Dave Grusin, bassist Anthony Jackson, drummer Buddy Williams, and Richard Tee on piano. The six recent Mulligan compositions include pieces for big band, small groups, and even a vocal performance all sharing Gerry Mulligan's distinctive melodic approach to arrangement and saxophone improvisation.

Mulligan first worked with Dave Grusin in a California sextet about ten years ago. As co-arrangers, Gerry and Dave did some collaborating on "Little Big Horn," which was co-produced by Gerry Mulligan and Hank O'Neal.

"I'm introducing a whole new approach on this album, another atmosphere altogether," says Mulligan. "Little Big Horn" continues Gerry Mulligan's tradition of change and exploration of new writing approaches, while maintaining the intuitive sense of melody that makes his music accessible to audiences all over the world. "People have always said that I play the baritone like a little horn," he explains. "I've attempted to create the illusion that it's not playing in the low register by concentrating on its qualities as a melodic instrument. There are many basic ways of hearing jazz-mine will always be the melodic."