Gerry+mulligan

The 2024 restoration of The Complete Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker 1952–1957 offers a meticulously curated collection of their collaborative works.

Many renowned jazz musicians can be heard on the 10 CDs in this collection, but it is Gerry Mulligan’s work as arranger, composer and baritone saxophone player that is the focus. It took time for the rather ponderous, darkertoned baritone saxophone to achieve recognition as a solo instrument, but Mulligan played it with a lightness and elegance previously unknown. Born in New York, the youngest of four brothers, Gerald Joseph “Gerry” Mulligan lived even as a teenager in several different places in the USA and learnt to play in succession the piano, clarinet, alto, tenor and finally baritone saxophone. This 10 CD box set includes nineteen original jazz albums by the renowned jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan from the years 1954 to 1962. It features a mixture of classic albums and rare live recordings with Mulligan alongside world-class stars such as Thelonious Monk, Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Zoot Sims and Paul Desmond.

The second volume featuring early-'50s sessions by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet continues where the first left off, though including a number of alternate takes. By this time, the personnel had steadied with Mulligan and Chet Baker accompanied throughout their remaining sessions together by bassist Carson Smith and drummer Larry Bunker. The standout tracks include a remake of the baritone saxophonist's "Jeru" (recorded previously during the nonet sessions which were eventually gathered for Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool album) and the landmark treatment of "My Funny Valentine," a standard that would remain a key part of Baker's repertoire for the remainder of his life.

Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger.

Presenting the Gerry Mulligan Sextet is an album led by American jazz baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan featuring tracks recorded in 1955 and released on the EmArcy label.

Gerry Mulligan was primarily known as a baritone saxophonist, but was an expert exponent of other saxophones, clarinet and piano as well as being a highly-respected arranger, was one of the giants of post-war modern jazz. He was one of the leading lights in the cool jazz movement focused on the USA's West Coast. In 1952 he began a legendary collaboration with the young lyrical trumpeter Chet Baker, newly-arrived on the jazz scene after an Army career, with the primary era of their professional relationship ending in 1953 when Mulligan was jailed on narcotics charges. This LP highlights some of their greatest recordings during this time as part of Mulligan's iconic pianoless quartet, initially comprising informal 'live' recordings at The Haig jazz club in Los Angeles and at the house of recording engineer Phil Turetsky, and later at the Black Hawk club in San Francisco as well as more formal studio environments.

The most famous and probably greatest jazz baritonist of all time, Gerry Mulligan was a giant. A flexible soloist who was always ready to jam with anyone from Dixielanders to the most advanced boppers, Mulligan brought a somewhat revolutionary light sound to his potentially awkward and brutal horn and played with the speed and dexterity of an altoist. Mulligan started on the piano before learning clarinet and the various saxophones. His initial reputation was as an arranger. In 1944 he wrote charts for Johnny Warrington's radio band and soon was making contributions to the books of Tommy Tucker and George Paxton. He moved to New York in 1946 and joined Gene Krupa's Orchestra as a staff arranger; his most notable chart was "Disc Jockey Jump." The rare times he played with Krupa's band was on alto and the same situation existed when he was with Claude Thornhill in 1948.

Reunion with Chet Baker is an album recorded in 1957 by saxophonist Gerry Mulligan's Quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker which was released by World Pacific. It was Baker's first recording after moving to New York City.

Mulligan Meets Monk is a studio album by American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, originally released on Riverside Records in 1957.