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A brilliant baritone-saxophonist and arranger-composer, Gerry Mulligan was one of the most prominent jazz giants of the 1950s. He seemed to be everywhere during that decade, eager to sit in at jam sessions and collaborate with a variety of jazz greats from Thelonious Monk and Paul Desmond to Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster. While he became famous playing West Coast cool jazz with his pianoless quartet, Mulligan was open to performing dixieland, swing, bop and Third Stream music too. On the famous Sound Of Jazz telecast from 1957, Mulligan played with Billie Holiday, being just about the only younger musician in a remarkable group that included Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Ben Webster.
Although preceded by Harry Carney with Duke Ellington's band and a few others, Mulligan was the first baritone saxophonist to become a celebrity and an important bandleader. However it took him a few years to become prominent. Born in 1927, Mulligan played various saxophones and the piano as a teenager, but he first got work as an arranger. During 1944-45 he wrote arrangements for the big bands of Johnny Warrington, Tommy Tucker and George Paxton. After moving to New York in 1946, he wrote for Gene Krupa (including “Disc Jockey Jump”) and occasionally played alto with the band. In 1948 with Claude Thornhill's Orchestra, he arranged and again played alto. Mulligan was part of the Miles Davis Birth Of The Cool Nonet during their one gig and three record dates of 1948-50, contributing five arrangements and playing baritone, but as late as 1951, he was a virtual unknown. After recording with a nonet in New York, he moved to Los Angeles where he wrote some charts for Stan Kenton.
Life changed for Gerry Mulligan in 1952. After meeting trumpeter Chet Baker, he put together a pianoless quartet that played regularly at the Haig. The attractive sound of the group and the interplay between Mulligan and Baker (which hinted at modern dixieland) made the Gerry Mulligan Quartet into one of the most popular groups in jazz. After drug problems and a personality conflict between Mulligan and Baker ended that group, in 1954 Mulligan put together his second pianoless quartet, featuring valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer along with bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Frank Isola.
Personality-wise and musically, this was one of the most compatible groups that Mulligan ever led. Brookmeyer's fluency, wit and style perfectly fit the baritonist. Both were pianists (although rarely with this group) and improvised like arrangers so the content of each performance developed logically but with plenty of spontaneity.
Mulligan's Inner City album (which is part of the Jazz Legacy series) features his quartet at an important Paris concert in 1954. The group was so well received that this was a bit of a breakthrough. The interplay between the two horns on such songs as “I May Be Wrong,” “Lullaby Of The Leaves,” “Makin' Whoopee” and “The Nearness Of You” is memorable.
"Gerry Mulligan was one of the most popular jazz musicians of the 1950s. The baritone saxophonist often played witty solos, his interaction with other musicians formed a sort-of modern variation of Dixieland, and he was a top-notch composer. His CD in Inner City’s Jazz Legacy series features his pianoless quartet with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer at a Paris concert in 1954. The interplay between Mulligan and Brookmeyer on such numbers as “I May Be Wrong,” “Lullaby Of The Leaves” and “Makin’ Whoopee” is consistently memorable and fun.
One can understand why the audience is so enthusiastic, for this is spirited and timeless music that crosses many stylistic boundaries. And besides that, it is quite fun." -Scott Yanow
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