Gerry Mulligan Biography
Generally acknowledged as jazz’s greatest baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan (1927-1996) brought a light, flexible touch to the large, unwieldy instrument. A supremely adventurous musical spirit, Mulligan was a leading light in the West Coast cool jazz movement, but was equally comfortable working in multiple styles. Mulligan’s enthusiasm for exploring different formats and interacting with a broad range of musicians led him to build a large and diverse body of work, and he retained his creative spark for more than half a century.
Born in Queens, New York, Mulligan’s family moved around the country frequently while he was growing up, and was introduced to jazz by an African-American nanny with connections in the jazz community. He got his start playing piano, before moving on to clarinet and saxophone. Mulligan got his professional start playing sax in Philadelphia dance bands, and writing arrangements for such bandleaders as Johnny Warrington, Tommy Tucker and Elliott Lawrence. In 1946, Mulligan moved to New York and became in-house arranger for Gene Krupa’s Orchestra. He subsequently became arranger and sometime sax player for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, whose arranging staff also included Gil Evans. Mulligan and Evans became roommates, during a period that Evans’ Manhattan apartment was a noted hangout for musicians in New York’s budding bebop scene.
Mulligan made his first significant recordings on baritone sax in the late ’40s as a member of Miles Davis’ pioneering Birth of the Cool-era nonet, which also included alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and drummer Max Roach. Mulligan contributed several important arrangements and compositions to Davis’ group. During the same period, he also played and arranged for trombonist Kai Winding. In 1951, Mulligan began recording with his own nonet.
In 1952, Mulligan moved to Los Angeles, where he initially got work writing arrangements for Stan Kenton’s orchestra. He soon became a regular in the city’s jazz clubs, taking the unusual step of forming a quartet without a pianist. The quartet became wildly popular and influential, showcasing Mulligan’s remarkable rapport with trumpeter Chet Baker; their work together made Mulligan and Baker nationally famous. In 1954, Mulligan formed a new piano-less quartet with trombonist Bob Brookmeyer.
Mulligan continued to stake out new musical territory through the decade, making some recordings with orchestral backing, collaborating on albums with Thelonious Monk, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster, and working as a soloist or sideman with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Fletcher Henderson, Billie Holiday, Quincy Jones, Marian McPartland, Andre Previn and Jimmy Witherspoon. In 1958, Mulligan was backed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival, was featured on the classic Sound of Jazz TV special, and appeared in the movies I Want to Live and The Subterraneans.
In the early ’60s, Mulligan led his Concert Jazz Band, in which he occasionally doubled on piano, and which included such stellar players as Brookmeyer, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry and Doc Severinsen. Later in the decade, Mulligan toured extensively with a quartet that he shared with Dave Brubeck, with whom Mulligan would work sporadically for the rest of his life. In the ’70s, he launched an adventurous big band, led a sextet that included vibraphonist Dave Samuels, played with a reformed Concert Jazz Band, and worked on several ambitious orchestral projects. In the ’90s, Mulligan toured the world with an acclaimed new quartet and led a “Rebirth of the Cool” ensemble that performed material from Mulligan’s days with the Miles Davis’ nonet.
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