Gerry Mulligan
(1927 Queens Village, NY - 1996) Baritone saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Considered the most influential baritone saxophonist in jazz history.
His father's career as an engineer kept the family moving throughout his youth. Somehow with all the moving he managed to get a musical education and developed a talent for composing and arranging. At the age of sixteen, with the family living near Philadelphia, he talked his way into an opportunity to arrange for a radio station's house band. His brashness was one thing, but his talent got him a paying job. He quit school his senior year to join a touring band as their arranger.
In 1946 he moved to New York, where he got a job arranging for Gene Krupa big band. One of the musicans in Krupa's band was pianist Gil Evans. The two would become roommates and co-arrangers and leaders of a youthful jazz movement.
Three years later, Miles Davis formed a nine piece band featuring arrangements by Mulligan, Evans and John Lewis. The result was the album "Birth of the Cool". Commercially unsuccessful, this Davis band is today considered one of the most influential groups in jazz history, creating a sound that, despite its East coast origins, became known as West Coast Jazz.
In 1951 Mulligan recorded his feature album, "Mulligan Plays Mulligan"
Still without commerical success Mulligan moved to Los Angeles to look for steady work. He signed on as an arranger for Stan Kenton's big band. While working for Kenton, Mulligan began playing at nights in a small jazz club know as the Haig. Here he met Chet Baker. Mulligan and Baker had an almost psychic rapport in their Monday night jam sessions. "I had never experienced anything like that before and not really since, " he later remarked. Because there was no room for a piano during their performance times, Mulligan decided to build on earlier experiments and perform as a pianoless quartet. Baker's melodic style fit well with Mulligan's, leading them to create improvised and novel textures that began to wow their audiences. Their Haig gigs became sell-outs. They made a recording in the fall of 1952 that became big seller and both Mulligan and Baker began to receive significant acclaim.
It all came to a screeching halt when Mulligan was arrested in the summer of '53 for drug possession. He served six months on an honor farm. Eventually, Mulligan was able to kick his adiction to heroin, and his career flourished until his death in 1996.
Upon his release from the farm, Mulligan tried to reunit with Baker, but Chet was not interested. They would reunit from time to time for concerts and recordings. Mulligan continued with the pianoless quartet and played and recorded with a who's who of jazz greats.
Here is an absolutely dazzling clip featuring Gerry Mulligan with Ben Webster and his quintet. Gerry and Ben at their best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwNI0AxS4Ig
His father's career as an engineer kept the family moving throughout his youth. Somehow with all the moving he managed to get a musical education and developed a talent for composing and arranging. At the age of sixteen, with the family living near Philadelphia, he talked his way into an opportunity to arrange for a radio station's house band. His brashness was one thing, but his talent got him a paying job. He quit school his senior year to join a touring band as their arranger.
In 1946 he moved to New York, where he got a job arranging for Gene Krupa big band. One of the musicans in Krupa's band was pianist Gil Evans. The two would become roommates and co-arrangers and leaders of a youthful jazz movement.
Three years later, Miles Davis formed a nine piece band featuring arrangements by Mulligan, Evans and John Lewis. The result was the album "Birth of the Cool". Commercially unsuccessful, this Davis band is today considered one of the most influential groups in jazz history, creating a sound that, despite its East coast origins, became known as West Coast Jazz.
In 1951 Mulligan recorded his feature album, "Mulligan Plays Mulligan"
Still without commerical success Mulligan moved to Los Angeles to look for steady work. He signed on as an arranger for Stan Kenton's big band. While working for Kenton, Mulligan began playing at nights in a small jazz club know as the Haig. Here he met Chet Baker. Mulligan and Baker had an almost psychic rapport in their Monday night jam sessions. "I had never experienced anything like that before and not really since, " he later remarked. Because there was no room for a piano during their performance times, Mulligan decided to build on earlier experiments and perform as a pianoless quartet. Baker's melodic style fit well with Mulligan's, leading them to create improvised and novel textures that began to wow their audiences. Their Haig gigs became sell-outs. They made a recording in the fall of 1952 that became big seller and both Mulligan and Baker began to receive significant acclaim.
It all came to a screeching halt when Mulligan was arrested in the summer of '53 for drug possession. He served six months on an honor farm. Eventually, Mulligan was able to kick his adiction to heroin, and his career flourished until his death in 1996.
Upon his release from the farm, Mulligan tried to reunit with Baker, but Chet was not interested. They would reunit from time to time for concerts and recordings. Mulligan continued with the pianoless quartet and played and recorded with a who's who of jazz greats.
Here is an absolutely dazzling clip featuring Gerry Mulligan with Ben Webster and his quintet. Gerry and Ben at their best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwNI0AxS4Ig
posted by chuy93 at 7:14 PM
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