Gerry Mulligan – The Original Sextet: Complete Studio Master Takes (1955-1956) https://youtu.be/BS5S79WYMUY CD Liner Notes:
A commanding composer, arranger, soloist, and bandleader
One of the most widely respected and admired jazz musicians of his generation, Gerry Mulligan occupies a unique place in the American music scene. He plays baritone saxophone, piano, clarinet, and, later in his career, soprano saxophone; played a vital role in the history of modern jazz as a composer, arranger, and conductor; and was also a celebrated person and a man of paradoxes. As Richard Cook stated, "He wrote many of the most precise and considered scores in modern jazz, yet he loved the freedom and spontaneity of jam sessions; he was one of the prime architects of cool, yet his own playing could be as fiercely hot as that of any hard bopper; he ran one of the most famous small groups in jazz, but his heart was surely with the big-band form.
Born Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan in Queens Village, Long Island, New York City, on April 6, 1927, he spent his childhood and adolescence in several American cities as his family moved wherever his father's career as an engineer took them. By the age of seven, he was composing and copyrighting original songs, and after studying
piano and clarinet, he taught himself to play the alto sax. When the family moved to Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Gerry called on Johnny Warrington, director of the WCAU-CBS radio orchestra, to offer his services. He later arranged for Elliott Lawrence, Tommy Tucker, and many others. In 1946, he joined drummer Gene Krupa's big band as tenor saxophonist and arranger before writing arrangements for Woody Herman and Claude Thornhill, where he met Gil Evans.
Between 1948 and 1950, Mulligan contributed as a composer and baritone saxophonist to the famous and beautiful Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool nonet. The music that came out of these sessions produced some of the most important evolutionary moments in jazz. However, the general public's initial reaction towards the heavily orchestrated sound wasn't quite so warm.
Due to the increasing lack of opportunities to work as a musician in New York, Mulligan sold his instruments and hitchhiked to California in 1951. When he first arrived in Los Angeles during the spring of 1952, he sold some arrangements to Stan Kenton. After meeting Chet Baker at a jam session in the San Fernando Valley, Mulligan invited the trumpeter to join his first quartet (along with drummer Chico Hamilton and bassist Bob Whitlock) at L.A.'s celebrated club, The Haig. This chamber-jazz group, with its unique piano-less format and contrapuntal style, became instantly successful and established one of the most recognizable sounds of what has since been labeled the "West Coast Jazz" movement.
Although the original quartet survived for just a year—Gerry was arrested on drug charges, and Chet would battle drug addiction for the rest of his tragic life—Mulligan reformed the ensemble in 1954, replacing Baker with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Now a certifiable jazz star, Mulligan returned home to New York City and continued an active career throughout the rest of the 1950s. During this period, he organized several other significant groups, which included a ten-piece band modeled on an extended version of the Birth of the Cool nonet; a highly textured sextet with Brookmeyer, Jon Eardley, and Zoot Sims (which is remembered fondly by many as perhaps Gerry's finest small group ever); and another piano-less quartet with trumpeter and flugelhornist Art
Farmer. He also made several recordings with fellow saxophonists Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges, and Ben Webster.
Young Gerry Mulligan playing clarinet.
In 1960, Mulligan started a thirteen-piece ensemble called The Concert Jazz Band. This group, which lasted a couple of years, featured a piano-less rhythm section, five reeds and six brass, and at various times included such great musicians as Clark Terry, Brookmeyer, Zoot Sims, Mel Lewis, and Mulligan himself. He also continued leading big and small bands, playing as a solo performer at countless jazz festivals and concerts, and
touring as a sideman with Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus. In 1972, Gerry formed another large ensemble called The Age of Steam, featuring Harry Edison, Bud Shank, Tom Scott, Roger Kellaway, and Brookmeyer, among others. He also collaborated with Argentinean accordion master Astor Piazzolla.
Mulligan's career experienced a rebirth in the late 1970s, and the saxophonist toured worldwide with all-star bands into the nineties. He made his first recording with a symphony orchestra in 1987, under the title "Symphonic Dreams." Mulligan also led the Rebirth of the Cool Band in the 1990s, which performed and recorded classics from the Miles Davis Nonet. During the last fifteen years of his career, he sought out new musical territory, driving the music in new directions even when playing in a traditional quartet or quintet format.
Gerry's last concerts were with his Quartet, which performed on board the SS Norway's Caribbean cruise on November 4 & 9, 1995. He died at his home in Darien, Connecticut, on January 20, 1996, at the age of 68, due to complications that arose after knee surgery
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Gerry Mulligan – The Original Sextet: Complete Studio Master Takes (1955-1956)
https://youtu.be/BS5S79WYMUY
CD Liner Notes:
A commanding composer, arranger, soloist, and bandleader
One of the most widely respected and admired jazz musicians of his generation, Gerry Mulligan occupies a unique place in the American music scene. He plays baritone saxophone, piano, clarinet, and, later in his career, soprano saxophone; played a vital role in the history of modern jazz as a composer, arranger, and conductor; and was also a celebrated person and a man of paradoxes. As Richard Cook stated, "He wrote many of the most precise and considered scores in modern jazz, yet he loved the freedom and spontaneity of jam sessions; he was one of the prime architects of cool, yet his own playing could be as fiercely hot as that of any hard bopper; he ran one of the most famous small groups in jazz, but his heart was surely with the big-band form.
Born Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan in Queens Village, Long Island, New York City, on April 6, 1927, he spent his childhood and adolescence in several American cities as his family moved wherever his father's career as an engineer took them. By the age of seven, he was composing and copyrighting original songs, and after studying
piano and clarinet, he taught himself to play the alto sax. When the family moved to Philadelphia, sixteen-year-old Gerry called on Johnny Warrington, director of the WCAU-CBS radio orchestra, to offer his services. He later arranged for Elliott Lawrence, Tommy Tucker, and many others. In 1946, he joined drummer Gene Krupa's big band as tenor saxophonist and arranger before writing arrangements for Woody Herman and Claude Thornhill, where he met Gil Evans.
Between 1948 and 1950, Mulligan contributed as a composer and baritone saxophonist to the famous and beautiful Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool nonet. The music that came out of these sessions produced some of the most important evolutionary moments in jazz. However, the general public's initial reaction towards the heavily orchestrated sound wasn't quite so warm.
Due to the increasing lack of opportunities to work as a musician in New York, Mulligan sold his instruments and hitchhiked to California in 1951. When he first arrived in Los Angeles during the spring of 1952, he sold some arrangements to Stan Kenton. After meeting Chet Baker at a jam session in the San Fernando Valley, Mulligan invited the trumpeter to join his first quartet (along with drummer Chico Hamilton and bassist Bob Whitlock) at L.A.'s celebrated club, The Haig. This chamber-jazz group, with its unique piano-less format and contrapuntal style, became instantly successful and established one of the most recognizable sounds of what has since been labeled the "West Coast Jazz" movement.
Although the original quartet survived for just a year—Gerry was arrested on drug charges, and Chet would battle drug addiction for the rest of his tragic life—Mulligan reformed the ensemble in 1954, replacing Baker with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Now a certifiable jazz star, Mulligan returned home to New York City and continued an active career throughout the rest of the 1950s. During this period, he organized several other significant groups, which included a ten-piece band modeled on an extended version of the Birth of the Cool nonet; a highly textured sextet with Brookmeyer, Jon Eardley, and Zoot Sims (which is remembered fondly by many as perhaps Gerry's finest small group ever); and another piano-less quartet with trumpeter and flugelhornist Art
Farmer. He also made several recordings with fellow saxophonists Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges, and Ben Webster.
Young Gerry Mulligan playing clarinet.
In 1960, Mulligan started a thirteen-piece ensemble called The Concert Jazz Band. This group, which lasted a couple of years, featured a piano-less rhythm section, five reeds and six brass, and at various times included such great musicians as Clark Terry, Brookmeyer, Zoot Sims, Mel Lewis, and Mulligan himself. He also continued leading big and small bands, playing as a solo performer at countless jazz festivals and concerts, and
touring as a sideman with Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus. In 1972, Gerry formed another large ensemble called The Age of Steam, featuring Harry Edison, Bud Shank, Tom Scott, Roger Kellaway, and Brookmeyer, among others. He also collaborated with Argentinean accordion master Astor Piazzolla.
Mulligan's career experienced a rebirth in the late 1970s, and the saxophonist toured worldwide with all-star bands into the nineties. He made his first recording with a symphony orchestra in 1987, under the title "Symphonic Dreams." Mulligan also led the Rebirth of the Cool Band in the 1990s, which performed and recorded classics from the Miles Davis Nonet. During the last fifteen years of his career, he sought out new musical territory, driving the music in new directions even when playing in a traditional quartet or quintet format.
Gerry's last concerts were with his Quartet, which performed on board the SS Norway's Caribbean cruise on November 4 & 9, 1995. He died at his home in Darien, Connecticut, on January 20, 1996, at the age of 68, due to complications that arose after knee surgery
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