Gerry Mulligan

One of the genuinely innovative modern jazz groups to emerge in Los Angeles during the early '50s, the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet featuring Chet Baker is captured live, on stage, at their regular Hollywood haunt, The Haig as well as San Francisco's famed Black Hawk Club. The album has been compiled by the legendary Roy Carr.

The film's opening alternates clips of Mulligan smiling, playing his baritone sax and speaking. That brief documentary sequence establishes the good feeling that prevails in this 1981 performance at Eric's, a New York club. From there on, it's all music. Mulligan's rhythm section—pianist Harold Danko, bassist Frank Luther, drummer Billy Hart—are locked into the spirit, one another and their leader. It's a flawless set of Mulligan tunes of the period, including “North Atlantic Run," “Song for Strayhorn" and “K-4 Pacific." Gary Keys' cinematography has the intimacy of tight closeups, just enough camera movement and no cute tricks. The sound by Jim Anderson is excellent.

Although an earlier CD added five previously unissued tracks to the original LP Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster, this Verve Master Edition two-CD set adds just about everything else recorded during the two sessions that produced the original record, and also features 20-bit sound. Even though Gerry Mulligan was outspoken against issuing material omitted from his original recordings, it is a treat to hear how the songs evolved in the studio. Webster and Mulligan seem mutually inspired throughout the sessions, and strong performances by pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Mel Lewis are of considerable help. The music is presented in the order in which it was recorded, with each CD devoted to a separate session…

Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker - Carnegie Hall Concert (1974) {Epic EPC 450554 2 rel 1987}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 405 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 166 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 35 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1974, 1987 CTI / Epic / CBS | EPC 450554 2
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone / Trumpet

At this 1974 concert baritonist Gerry Mulligan and trumpeter Chet Baker had one of their very rare reunions; it would be only the second and final time that they recorded together after Mulligan's original quartet broke up in 1953. Oddly enough, a fairly contemporary rhythm section was used (keyboardist Bob James, vibraphonist Dave Samuels, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Harvey Mason, and in one of his first recordings, guitarist John Scofield). However, some of the old magic was still there between the horns, and in addition to two of Mulligan's newer tunes, this set (the first of two volumes) also includes fresh versions of "Line for Lyons" and "My Funny Valentine."

A number of posthumous CDs have appeared following Gerry Mulligan's death in 1996. This one combines two previously unreleased quartet concerts, both featuring Bob Brookmeyer, an equally talented composer and arranger and outstanding valve trombonist. The songs are all familiar to Mulligan fans, including the swinging arrangements of "Laura" and great tunes like "Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are" and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," which few other jazz groups seem to play. Mulligan's very cool but awkwardly titled "Bweebida Bobbida" and "Utter Chaos," his favorite theme song, round out the material from the 1957 Hollywood Bowl concert. Bassist Joe Benjamin and drummer Dave Bailey (inexplicably listed as "Donald Bailey" on the CD's back cover) make up the capable rhythm section.

This five-LP box set, as its title states, contains all of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet's recordings for Pacific Jazz and Capitol, everything that that classic group ever recorded other than the material issued by Prestige and a half record recorded for GNP Crescendo. Unfortunately, this is a limited-edition set that is now out of print but it is well worth bidding on in auctions, for not only does it have all of the Mulligan Quartet's other recordings but also 15 previously unissued performances, all of the sides on which altoist Lee Konitz sat in with the quartet and the eight recordings by the 1953 Gerry Mulligan Tentette. These highly influential performances set the standard for West Coast jazz, made trumpeter Chet Baker a star, and remain some of the high points of Gerry Mulligan's very productive career.

Thelonious Monk & Gerry Mulligan - Mulligan Meets Monk (1957) {OJC Remasters Complete Series rel 2013, item 24of33}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 410 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 146 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1957, 2013 Riverside / Concord | 60th Anniversary of Riverside Records | 0888072345904
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Saxophone / Piano

Concord Music Group will release five new titles in its Original Jazz Classics Remasters series. Enhanced by 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, several bonus tracks on nearly each disc (some previously unreleased) and new liner notes providing historical context to the original material, the series celebrates the 60th anniversary of Riverside Records, the prolific New York-based label that showcased some of the most influential jazz artists and recordings of the 1950s and '60s.

Three years after Gerry Mulligan initially sat in with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, the baritone saxophonist arrived at a point where he could perform alongside Brubeck's alto saxophonist, Paul Desmond, for this much anticipated session. When legal issues, wranglings with producer Norman Granz, and the question of which record label would subsidize and release this album were resolved, the two saxophonists went ahead to produce a delightful program of standards and originals where their more playful sides could fully blossom…