A Gerry Mulligan Reader: Writings On A Jazz Original - The Reviews

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

This was my very first effort at compiling a reader. It was self-published in July 2023 and is available as a paperback and an eBook exclusively on Amazon. Just enter my name under books.

Since then, I’ve given it a new cover and published 19 more anthologies to keep it company.

When it was first published, a number of friends and colleagues were kind enough to review it and I’ve gathered these and republished them below in the hopes that my many new Jazz buddies will consider adding a copy of the book to their Jazz libraries. 50 % of my royalties are contributed to the Gerry and Franca Mulligan Foundation to help individual students purchase musical instruments. So far these have totaled around $500.

After the reviews, you’ll find the Table of Contents with the listing of the articles, interviews, and commentaries that make up the book.

I hope you will excuse this unabashed plug but since there is no marketing budget, I am reduced to self-marketing the work along with self-publishing it.

 

GARY GIDDINS

"Dear Steve, Thanks so much for sending and, indeed, for composing your opus on GM. You did an extraordinary job of finding obscure and illuminating pieces that would otherwise never be seen and which fully represent Jeru as man and musician. It’s the kind of book that you dare not open unless you’ve got time to spare because it’s impossible to stop flipping through and getting ambushed by pieces you never expected. I hope it gets the attention and readership it deserves. Best, Gary" 

MARC MYERS AT JAZZ WAX

"Gerry Mulligan. Steve Cerra, founder of the blog Jazz Profiles, has just published A Gerry Mulligan Reader: Writings on a Jazz Original. The book artfully brings together a large and varied selection of pieces written about the baritone saxophonist, composer and arranger. Pieces are culled from books, album liner notes and Steve's own posts. Fascinating examinations by writers throughout Mulligan's long and influential career."

BILL CROW, former bassist with Gerry Mulligan’s quartet and big band

"I finished reading your book, Steve, and enjoyed it. There were many things I hadn't seen before. I like the way you organized all that material. I''ve been spreading the word. I see it is available on Amazon. Best, Bill" 

BILL CROW, writing in The Band Room, the NYC Musicians Union Local 802 Newsletter

“Steven Cerra sent me a copy of his new book, “Gerry Mulligan, Writings on a Jazz Original,” a fine collection of writings about Gerry, including some of mine, plus some interviews. Steven writes: “The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a sequential and thematic account of the life and music of Gerry Mulligan (April 5, 1927-January 20,1996.) I’ve been enjoying reading it. Steven Included an anecdote from one of my books: …Gerry continued to work with his quartet: Brookmeyer, Mel Lewis and me. We appeared on Mike Wallace’s television show during the time that Wallace was in the process of building a reputation as an investigative reporter. Wallace’s TV interviews were popular partly because of his prosecutorial style. At the rehearsal, Wallace was courteous and low-key. He asked questions that had been prepared by his staff, and Gerry answered frankly about his career, his experiences with drugs and the law, and other aspects of his life. On the air, Wallace’s tone became more contentious, and instead of asking the questions he had asked at rehearsal, he said accusingly, “I understand you were involved with drugs, and did some time because of it!” This left Gerry with little more to say than “yes.” Though Wallace was using the information Gerry had given him at the rehearsal, he gave his audience the impression that he was confronting Gerry with the results of his own private investigations. Gerry managed to field Wallace’s questions with his usual aplomb, but he found himself at a loss when Wallace asked him, “I notice there are no black musicians in your group. Is this accidental, or by design?” Actually, it was the first time in years that, by happenstance, there were no black musicians in Gerry’s quartet, but any short answer to that question would have sounded lame. As Gerry considered how best to respond, Bob Brookmeyer glared at Wallace, jerked a thumb at Mel Lewis, and said frostily, “We’ve got a Jewish drummer. Will that help?” Wallace dropped the subject.” 

JAMES HARROD at Jazz Research

“At last, a resource of critical writings gathered in one place covering the career of one of the most influential jazz artists of the 20th century. The large format, 8.5 x 11 inches, enables a decent font size to read this collection that includes liner notes from many Mulligan CD releases where the text was often so small that a magnifying glass was needed. Cerra’s choice includes many hard-to-find items like a chapter from the now out-of-print and pricey Ruddick biography of Chet Baker discussing the formation of the Gerry Mulligan quartet. “

GORDON JACK, writing in Jazz Journal

“Gerry Mulligan: Writings On A Jazz Original by Gordon Jack “Steven Cerra studied drums with Victor Feldman and Larry Bunker before going on the road with Bobby Troup, Anita O’Day and Juliet Prowse during the sixties. He eventually left the music scene in 1970 to pursue work in other fields. His interest in Gerry Mulligan began when he first heard the Mulligan sextet’s famous 1954 San Diego concert which featured Jon Eardley, Bob Brookmeyer, Zoot Sims, Red Mitchell and Larry Bunker. That album began a life-long interest in Mulligan’s music. This is the third book published this year devoted to one of the most innovative performers of the post-war jazz scene. The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets by Alyn Shipton is a forensically detailed look at one of one of the genre’s most unique small groups. Being Gerry Mulligan: My Life In Music comes from a collection of audio tapes he left behind which have been lovingly reconstructed as an autobiography by Ken Poston. Back in 1986 Raymond Horricks wrote a brief appreciation which he expanded in 2003 to include a discography of commercial and bootleg material (Gerry Mulligan’s Ark). Jerome Klinkowitz’s 1991 Listen: Gerry Mulligan is a useful reference but Jeru’s Journey by Sanford Josephson published in 2015 is a disappointing attempt at a biography revealing little that is new. Just like the Miles Davis Reader and the Duke Ellington Reader, Writings On A Jazz Original offers something a little different. The fifty-two articles, interviews and liner-notes by major jazz writers here reveal a fascinating anthology of his activities over the years: George T. Simon (Insert notes to Elliot Lawrence Plays Gerry Mulligan), Peter Welding (Insert Notes to Birth of the Cool), Peter Welding (Insert Notes to The Complete Pacific Jazz and Capitol Recordings of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and Tentette with Chet Baker), Steven Cerra (Gerry Mulligan and Stan Kenton), Alun Morgan (Insert Notes to The Fabulous Gerry Mulligan Sextet), Nat Hentoff (Gerry Mulligan-The White Mainstreamer), Leonard Feather (Before and After), Bill Crow (From Birdland to Broadway), Bill Kirchner (Booklet Notes to The Complete Verve Gerry Mulligan Concert Band Sessions), Michael Cuscuna (Booklet Notes to The Age of Steam), Gene Lees (Meet Me at Jim & Andy’s), Ira Gitler (Swing to Bop) and Mathew Ruddick (The Life And Times of Chet Baker). There are three Downbeat Blindfold Tests that Mulligan undertook including one with Harry Carney. Cerra also includes interviews with Gerry’s two wives Arlyne Brown Mulligan and Franca Rota Mulligan. Writings On A Jazz Original is a most welcome addition to the extensive literature already devoted to one of the giants of the music. When the definitive Gerry Mulligan biography is finally written, Steven Cerra’s book will be an essential source. Gerry Mulligan: Writings On A Jazz Original By Steven A Cerra. Self Published. 355 pp. Gordon Jack”

MICHAEL STEINMAN at Jazz Lives

“GERRY MULLIGAN: WRITINGS ON A JAZZ ORIGINAL,” by STEVEN A. CERRA (Amazon, 2023) www.jazzlives.wordpress.com Posted on November 9, 2023 | 4 comments “Forgive the culinary metaphor, but some books are snacks, some are satisfying dinners. Steve Cerra's new book on Gerry Mulligan is a delightfully overwhelming banquet. When I first received a copy, I found it engrossing but I also thought, "I might need a few weeks to do this book justice." So this admiring review comes with the caveat that I, the admiring reviewer, have read here and there in the book. But I think it is such a valuable compilation that it should get heralded right now. To me, Mulligan is in the odd position of being simultaneously celebrated and viewed at a curious distance. He had a nearly fifty-year career as a jazz luminary, a deep influence as a singular player of a sometimes-underestimated instrument, the baritone saxophone. For some, he would have been slightly behind Ellington's majestic Harry Carney; for others, he would have outstripped Carney as an innovator and creative thinker. Mulligan appeared to "move with the times," but in reality he stubbornly chose to be himself, no matter what the context: his piano-less quartet, his Concert Jazz Band, the "Birth of the Cool" group; his later recordings that each seem to be jubilant explorations of new landscapes. To understand him, one has only to make a quick mental list of the people he played with and chose to work with: Bill Crow, Miles Davis, Brew Moore, Charlie Parker, Bob Brookmeyer, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Jimmie Rowles, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Jack Teagarden, Tony Fruscella, Bill Charlap, Zoot Sims, Johnny Hodges, Teddy Wilson, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Ben Webster, Phil Woods, Elliot Lawrence, Joe Sullivan, Gene Krupa, Annie Ross, Billie Holiday, Clark Terry, Stan Getz, Paul Desmond, Lee Konitz, Chubby Jackson, Charles Mingus, Mel Torme, Shorty Rogers, Zoot Sims, Lionel Hampton, Cleo Laine . . . and that is not including his arrangements for Lawrence, Krupa, Claude Thornhill, Stan Kenton, and his own groups. He has been categorized as part of the "cool jazz" or "West Coast jazz" school, but those schools are merely names journalists give to groups of musicians when they need a quick and often inaccurate classifier. Cerra's book is not the only one on Mulligan: Sanford Josephson's biography, JERU'S JOURNEY: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF GERRY MULLIGAN, appeared in 2015, and two oral histories appeared earlier. But Cerra's book, an appealing collection, does not duplicate the previous works. It is a Reader, or a collection of articles, interviews, and liner notes to recordings. As such, it is not only a shifting multi-layered portrait of Mulligan, person and artist, it is also a cross-section of journalistic and essayistic jazz history. Consider, if you will, a book of reviews of Ulysses: a reader would learn not only about the subject, Joyce's work, but how it was regarded, decade after decade. Thus, Cerra's large-format book (with illustrations) is fifty-plus perspectives on the artist, his groups, his colleagues, and his reputation as the times shift. Cerra himself doesn't demand center stage, but his writing is clear and unfussy, a pleasure. Let us assume, even if it's heresy, that the imagined reader isn't terribly fascinated by Jeru in all his many selves. The book is still an arresting collection of stories (I was reading it last night, or this morning, at 2 AM). I didn't know that George Duvivier had been invited by Duke to join the band at the same time Duke found Jimmie Blanton, and why Duvivier said no; I hadn't known how Al Cohn had lost one eye; his tumultuous relationship with Chet Baker, his working relationships with Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and much more. For those who thrive on darkness, there's heroin, cancer, imprisonment, broken hearts as well. I won't describe the book more, because I don't want to take away the serendipitous joys of finding a new story, a new insight, musicians seen from multiple perspectives. At first, I was disconcerted that the book lacked an index (possibly a financial decision) but rambling through its pages, I have welcomed the opportunity to find surprises without arrows pointing to them. One of the most charming aspects of Mulligan is that he understood, and loved, the whole history of the music. Had there been a jazz festival with Leon Roppolo and Ornette Coleman on sequential stages, Gerry would have sat in with both of them and made everyone feel at home with his presence. And, in turn, he was loved and respected by Coleman Hawkins and Rex Stewart, among other "elders." This leads me to the filmed evidence (December 1957) of the magic moment when I first saw and heard him live. You'll recognize the sublimely glittering crew, and please marvel once again at how Jeru not only gets comfortable but lifts the music: After Jimmy Rushing walks to one side, there's the Basie rhythm section (without Walter Page, who was ill): Basie, piano; Eddie Jones, double bass; Freddie Green, guitar; Jo Jones, drums. Then Ben Webster, tenor saxophone; Bennie Morton, trombone; Joe Wilder, trumpet -- then Gerry, soaring, lyrical and down-to-earth; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Emmett Berry, trumpet; Coleman Hawkins, tenor saxophone; Dickie Wells, trombone; Joe Newman, trumpet; Basie and the ensemble, cheered on by Billie Holiday. Of course there are thousands of hours of Gerry on record and film to savor. But this book will add to the enjoyment, and I salute its diligent author-editor. It's available as a large-format paperback or ebook here, and Cerra says in his acknowledgments that after publishing costs have been met, half the proceeds will go to the Gerry Mulligan Foundation "to support school music programs and acquiring instruments for students," commendable indeed. Make room on your shelves.”

PIERRE GIROUX, writing in the Jan. 2024 Ed. of The New York City Jazz Record

“Gerry Mulligan: Writings on a Jazz Original, by jazz historian Steven Cerra, delves into the life and work of the groundbreaking baritone saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader. The book is a reader, and its seven discrete chapters cover specific periods in the musician’s musical life, each chapter presenting selections from essays, articles, interviews and liner notes by various hands and providing insights into Mulligan’s unique style, contributions and impact on the jazz genre. Throughout a nearly 50-year career (this month marks the baritone saxophonist’s 28-year deathaversary), Mulligan was at the inflection point of many changes in jazz. In 1944, at the age of 17, he started out in big bands and his musical career from then until the early ’70s represents his most productive and innovative period. This fact is reflected in the compelling written material sourced by Cerra, which comprises the book’s first three chapters and represents over two-thirds of the book’s pages. Among the many highlights, we learn of the impact he made arranging and composing for the big bands of Gene Krupa, Claude Thornhill and Elliot Lawrence in the mid to late ’40s, his captivating contributions to the Miles Davis Nonet Birth of the Cool sessions (1949) and the formation of the groundbreaking pianoless quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker in the early ‘50s, which foreshadowed the West Coast jazz movement. For the balance of the ’50s all the way into the early ’70s, Mulligan burnished his reputation with various iterations of the quartet, which included trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and trumpeter Art Farmer. He also led an influential sextet that included Brookmeyer, saxophonist Zoot Sims and trumpeter Jon Eardley, led his own twelve-piece Concert Jazz Band from 1960-64 and joined Dave Brubeck’s group from 1968-72. This is not meant to be an exhaustive recounting of Mulligan’s activities but rather to demonstrate the richness of his endeavors. Readers will additionally gain valuable insights into Mulligan’s musical influences, collaborations and partnerships, which affected the evolution of his distinctive sound. Contributors to the book include George T. Simon, Ira Gitler, Michael Cuscuna, Jack Gordon, Nat Hentoff and Leonard Feather, among others. Mulligan died on January 20, 1996, at what would be considered a still youthful 68. Cerra has provided a comprehensive and insightful exploration of his contribution to jazz, offering a profound exploration of Gerry Mulligan’s musical legacy as well as his enduring impact.” 

REVIEWS FROM FRIENDS

WELL DONE STEVE! Just received your handsome Reader. Although I'm familiar with it from your emails over the years, I intend to start re-reading now it's in book form. It's been a long struggle, but your book provides essential information to the ongoing Mulligan research which hopefully will one day result in a full-blown biography. Steve WONDERFUL. I have only read the introduction thus far, but I wanted to tell you, that I can see that this book is just what I was expecting, and I believe that it will fill a huge void in understanding - and appreciating - Gerry Mulligan. Whilst I have enjoyed (to a degree) all the books previously published about Gerry, I do not believe that any of them, bar perhaps Alyn Shipton's recent publication, have come anywhere near addressing Mulligan's real significance in jazz history. I think you have achieved something special in pulling this together. I thank you. I hope you make a fortune - both for the Foundation and for yourself. (I have already persuaded a good friend to purchase this book and will try with others I know). Congratulations, and above all thanks. I now look forward to months of careful reading (probably with Mulligan playing in the background....) Hi Steve, Well, I've read enough of your book to allow me to think that I can comment intelligently on it. First off, it's great! I love your idea of telling the story by way of excerpts from the writing of various authors. I do think that it gives a more well-rounded picture of Jeru than any single author could offer.I was familiar with many of the pieces, of course, but reading them again--the excerpts surrounded by other essays/articles that focus on the same period--helps me, at least, get a firmer idea of the author's point of view on that subject. And there were/are various excerpts in your book that I hadn't seen before. I was especially happy to find the piece by Matthew Ruddick from his book on Chet Baker. I think it's the best summation of the beginnings & contributions of the original Quartet that I've ever read. I'll have to get Ruddick's book. I do love the book and appreciate the time and effort that you've put into it. It's a worthy addition to the jazz canon, and I'd unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone. And, print format or not, I'm really enjoying reading it. 

"Just got your Mulligan book today from Amazon. Amazing work!!" 

“When I heard that Steven was writing this book, I couldn't wait to receive it because I have enjoyed his jazz writing for some time, and I have been a Mulligan disciple for over 40 years. The first surprise when it arrived is the size of this book. I was expecting it to be the standard paperback size, but this book is large. Given that the print size is standard, that was when I realized how comprehensive the book was going to be. Cerra covers Mulligan's music from his beginnings as a teenager to his final output while also paying attention to the legacy Jeru left behind. Using a combination of full articles, excerpts, and personal observations it's clear that this is a labour of love. I highly recommend this book for any fan of Gerry Mulligan, but also for any fan of jazz. Mulligan is in the pantheon of great jazz innovators and his legacy is given the justice it deserve's in Cerra's tome. Read this book and buy Gerry's music. You'll regret neither.” - Kevin Goss 

“The very title makes it clear that this is not a biography in the conventional sense. However, in many ways it works better than a normal biography. The author has identified six phases of Gerry Mulligan's career and illustrated each with several suitable pieces of writing - not his own, but drawn from a vast array of sources - including both contemporary and retrospective pieces such as comprehensive sleeve notes, magazine articles, and interviews. I realised that there are considerable advantages to this approach. A conventional biographer will form a picture of his subject and this view will tend to shape everything he writes. The use of pieces from several dozen writers helps us get a much more rounded picture of the subject - and it is clear that Gerry Mulligan did indeed have several sides to his personality. True there are a number of episodes and anecdotes which get repeated several times but I did not find this obtrusive; rather, seeing the same story from different sources helped me form a more balanced picture. Biography or not Steve Cerra has arranged the materials to enlighten us about each stage of Gerry's career. It all works beautifully, with important recordings illustrated with the original sleeve notes and contemporary reviews, and for each self-contained section it is natural to return to listen once more to the recordings themselves. This isn't one of those books where you say 'I couldn't put it down' and I suspect the author would be rather disappointed if anyone did. I'm pleased to say it took me six weeks to read. I've enjoyed Mulligan's music for more than sixty years - we called our first cat Mulligan - but I learned a great deal. It's not just the book list that is extensive; the author's knowledge of Mulligan's music and across the jazz scene as a whole is encyclopedic. I enjoyed the book immensely and was happy to take my time to enjoy each section and its associated music. I unreservedly recommend A Gerry Mulligan Reader.” - Alan Parr 

Table of Contents

THE 1940’s: BOP; BIG BANDS; BIRTH OF THE COOL

Peter Clayton, Insert Notes to Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements [Verve MGVS 6008] and [World Record Club LP release [TP 351]

George T. Simon, Insert Notes to Elliot Lawrence Plays Gerry Mulligan 

Arrangements [Fantasy F-3 206; OJCCD-117-2]

Claude Thornhill, Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan: Three of a Mind - CLAUDE AND GIL from Gerry Mulligan in Being Gerry Mulligan: My Life in Music with Ken Poston [2023]

Ira Gitler, Jeru and Bird, Swing to Bop [1985]

Peter Welding/Gerry Mulligan Insert Notes to CD Reissue Birth of the Cool  [Capitol Jazz CDP 7 92862 2]

THE 1950s: THE QUARTETS, TENTETTE, AND SEXTETS; THE “MEETS” LPs; THE MOVIES

OVERVIEW: Joe Goldberg, Gerry Mulligan, Jazz Masters of the 1950s [1965]

Gerry Mulligan and Stan Kenton - Opposites That Didn't Attract [Excerpts from the Jazz Literature]

Gordon Jack, Interviews with Gerry Mulligan and the following members of the 1952-53 Gerry Mulligan Quartet featuring Chet Baker: bassists Bob Whitlock and Carson Smith; drummers Chico Hamilton and Larry Bunker in Fifties Jazz Talk: An Oral Retrospective [Scarecrow Press]

Will MacFarland, Mulligan - The Sound Alone, Theme Magazine, January, 1954

Herb Kimmel, Mulligan - The Man Behind the Sound [An Unpublished Rejoinder to Will MacFarland sent to Jimmy Valentine, publisher/editor of Theme Magazine]

Arlene [Arlyne] Mulligan, Make Mine Mulligan, Theme Magazine, March, 1954

Gordon Jack, Arlyne Brown Mulligan and Gerry Mulligan [May 16, June 20, July 25, 2019, Jazz Journal]

Gerry Mulligan, "Gerry Mulligan Tells - The Importance of Jazz Tradition" [Downbeat, September 21,1955]

Peter Welding - The Complete Pacific Jazz and Capitol Recordings of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and Tentette with Chet Baker [Excerpts from the Insert Booklet notes to Mosaic Records, MR 5-102]

Matthew Ruddick, Chapter 4, The Gerry Mulligan Quartet in The Life and Times of Chet Baker [2012]

Konitz Meets Mulligan: Lee Konitz and The Gerry Mulligan Quartet [Pacific Jazz LP PJM 406 and Capitol CD CDP 7 46847 2]

Alun Morgan, The Fabulous Gerry Mulligan Sextet  - [Insert Booklet notes Fresh Sound Records FSRCD 418-419] 

Gordon Jack, The Gerry Mulligan Sextet, Jazz Journal 3/2016

Michael Cuscuna, Insert Notes to Reunion: Gerry Mulligan with Chet Baker [Pacific Jazz Series 1957 CDP 7 46857 2]

Gordon Jack, Gerry Mulligan Quartet - Newport Rarities from 1957 [intended as sleeve notes for a never released CD; submitted to Jazz Journal, as yet unpublished]

Raymond Horricks, Gerry Mulligan, Jazz Masters Series [Apollo] - MEETS LPs

Gordon Jack, Stan and Gerry: Occasional Collaborators, Jazz Journal 10/2017

THE 1960s: THE BLINDFOLD TESTS; THE CONCERT JAZZ BAND;  BRU & JERU - COMPADRES WITH BRUBECK

OVERVIEW: Nat Hentoff, Gerry Mulligan, The White Mainstreamer, Jazz Is [Limelight Editions] and The New Yorker [3/21 and 3/28, 1959]

Leonard Feather, Before and After, Gerry Mulligan, Down Beat May 26, 1960 and June 9, 1960

Leonard Feather, “Mulligan Stew,” - Gerry Mulligan Blindfold Test, Down Beat, November 14, 1957

Leonard Feather, “Gerry Mulligan - The May 26,1960 Down Beat Blindfold Test”

Robert Gordon, The Gerry Mulligan Quartet in Concert -[1957 and 1962] - insert notes to Pablo PACD-5309-2]

Leonard Feather, Harry Carney and Gerry Mulligan - Two of a Kind, Blindfold Test, Down Beat, November 18, 1965

Bill Crow, Gerry Mulligan, From Birdland to Broadway: Scene from a Jazz Life [Oxford]

Bill Kirchner, Booklet Notes to Mosaic Records “The Complete Verve Gerry Mulligan Concert Band Sessions [MD4-221]

Bert Vuijsje, Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band: Young Blood Live in Amsterdam 1960 [Netherlands National Jazz Archives NJA CD - 1902]

Gordon Jack, Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band, September 7, 2021 Jazz Journal.

Gerry Mulligan and Judy Holliday as Told By Gene Lees [from Meet Me at Jim and Andy’s [1988]

Jerome Klinkowitz, Compadres with Gerry Mulligan, Listen Gerry Mulligan: An Aural Narrative [Schirmer Books]

THE 1970s: THE AGE OF STEAM; THE 1974 REUNION WITH CHET BAKER; THE RECONSTITUTED CONCERT JAZZ BAND

- Steven A. Cerra, Gerry Mulligan at Mid-Career, The 1970's and Onward 

Gerry Mulligan with Ken Poston- The Age of Steam: A Turning Point. Being Gerry Mulligan: My Life in Music [2022]

Michael Cuscuna, Booklet Notes to The Age of Steam, A&M CD, Artist House Music DVD

- Steven A. Cerra, Gerry Mulligan - Chet Baker 1974 Carnegie Hall Concert: Some Personal and Professional Perspectives

Gerry Mulligan’s European Period aka The Mulligan Renaissance - Steven A. Cerra

Richard Cook, “Gerry Mulligan - The Elusive Giant,” Jazz Review, October, 2001

Richard Brown, “Gerry Mulligan, Cool Charts Bearish Tone, Down Beat, June 7, 1979

THE 1980s:  WALK ON WATER; LITTLE BIG HORN; SYMPHONIC MULLIGAN; MORE CJB; QUARTETS WITH PIANO

- Steven A. Cerra, Mulligan in the 1980’s, Busier than Ever, Meeting New Challenges

Les Tomkins, “Gerry Mulligan: My Approach to the Orchestra,” Crescendo International, June/July, 1985

Richard Cook, “Gerry Mulligan, Big Band, Baritone and Beard, The Wire, No. 25, 1986

Michael Bourne, Gerry Mulligan, Singing a Song of Mulligan, Down Beat, January 1989

THE 1990s: REBIRTH OF THE COOL; DOWN BEAT HALL OF FAME; OBITUARY

Gerry Mulligan, 'Rebirth of the Cool' - 1991 - A Collective Overview, Steven A. Cerra

Into the 1990s - Gerry Mulligan and the Piano Quartets - Steven A. Cerra

Gordon Jack, After You Jeru, [On the 50th Anniversary of the Original Gerry Mulligan Quartet], March 22, 2002, JazzJournal

Mitchell Seidel, “Mulligan Enters the Hall of Fame,” Down Beat, January, 1994

Gerry Mulligan 1927-1996 - The Obituaries

RECAPITULATION: 

Gene Lees, “Gerry Mulligan: I Hear The Shadows Dancing,” Arranging the Score: Portraits of Great Arrangers [London and New York: Cassell, 2000]

Winner of the 2025 Jazz Journalist Association Special Citation for Historic Writings, Steven Cerra is a professional Jazz drummer and the author of anthologies on Gerry Mulligan, Bill Evans, Stan Kenton, Dave Brubeck, Shelly Manne, Jazz West Coast Readers Vols. 1-3, Profiles in Jazz, Vol.1, Jazz Drummers A Reader Vols. 1-2, Jazz Saxophonists A Reader, Vol. 1, 2 & 3, Jazz Piano A Reader, Vols. 1, 2 & 3, Jazz Trumpet A Reader Vols. 1 and 2 and A Companion Celebrating The 100th Anniversary Of the Jean Goldkette Orchestras, 1926-2026. He also hosts the jazzprofiles.blogspot and cerra.substack blogs.

In Review - The Gerry Mulligan Concert Band - Rick Barton [From the Archives]

 © Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

This article appeared in the Wednesday, June 14, 1961 edition of Jazz News, a British publication not to be confused with the current London Jazz Newsletter.

It is a very early review of Gerry Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band performing in an iconic Jazz setting - Birdland - “The Jazz Corner of the World” and as such, I wanted it posted to this page so as to include it in the blog’s growing archive of articles on this significant orchestra which, had it continued to exist, might have “compared to Basie's or Duke's,” to paraphrase the a part of the quotation by drummer Mel Lewis that closes this review.

Of course, the Concert Jazz Band’s legacy is still found to this day in the sounds and souls of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra with some stops through the Thad Jones- Mel Lewis Band along the way.

Based in the UK, Mr. Barton uses English spelling.

“In an oddly-situated cellar, between 51st and 52nd Streets on Broadway, right in the heart of New York, is the 'Jazz Corner of the World,' Birdland                                           

At first It looks like any other nightclub, a large square room ('square' geometrically speaking, that is!) with a bar, chairs, tables, waiters and all the other necessities of the trade. The unique features of Birdland are however Pee Wee Marquette, the M.C. and host, and the Bull-Pen.

The Bull-Pen is a unique feature, a moderately sized enclosure set up to cater for the non-drinking audience. Here, for the price of admission alone, the fans young and old, who don't care or cannot afford to drink, can just sit and listen to the most exciting sounds in jazz..

It was to these surroundings that Gerry Mulligan, making his first appearance at Birdland with the group, brought his Concert Jazz Band. This is the second year of the band's existence, and since making its New York debut at Basin Street East last November, the band has acquired a great deal more polish, while still retaining the freshest, swinging big band sound around today.

This is a band with a wealth of soloists, and a list of writers and arrangers that reads like a 'Who's Who’ of modern jazz, Johnny Mandel, Bill Holman, Phil Sunkel, Duke Ellington, and of course from the band itself, Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Quill, Cohn and Nick Travis. 

The line-up reads as follows: 

Trumpets: Clark Terry, Nick Travis, Don Ferrara.

Trombones: Bob Brookmeyer (valve), Willie Dennis (slide), Allen Raph (bass).

Saxes:   Bob   Donovan,   Gene   Quill (altos), Al Cohn (tenor), Mulligan, Gene  Allen  (baritone). 

Bass: Bill Crow. 

Mel Lewis: drums 

I entered the club halfway through the first set. The band was just starting Johnny Mandel's 'I Want to Live.' This was a forceful interpretation

of the movie’s main theme, with Terry, Cohn and Mulligan taking short solos.,

The last number of this set was Ellington's 'I'm Gonna Go Fishin' again with Mulligan and Terry doing most of the soloing. This is a fast number,, with 'both men ' showing touches of their own particular brand of humour as they trade choruses each elaborating on what has gone before.

The Toshiko-Mariano Quartet reviewed in a recent newsletter, then took over for thirty minutes.

A fast swinging Bob Brookmeyer arrangement of 'Broadway',' a tune from-the old Basie book, opened the second set. Mulligan took the first solo, eyes closed, shoulders hunched, seeming to bite off short punching phrases. He was followed by Gene Quill's alto. Mulligan stepped down to the piano and accompanied Al Cohn's driving tenor, before coming back to the stand to join Brookmeyer in a jumping duet to climax the number.

This was greeted with warm applause. Gerry grinned delightedly and counted, off the next number, one of his own arrangements, 'Motel.' This was a band feature, the sections completely and aptly integrated, with short Gene Quill, Brookmeyer and Mulligan solos towards the end.

The final number of this set was 'Five Brothers' a Mulligan original, arranged by Brookmeyer. All the soloists were featured, Bill Crow taking his first solo of the night, and Mel Lewis finishing the set with an exhibition of crisp drumming.

The band was a trifle slow returning to the stand, something Pee Wee, our exuberant host, was quick to tell them, referring to Mulligan as 'The Redhead.' This set began in a mellow mood, with a ballad arrangement of 'Django's Castle' by Brookmeyer. The next number was 'Tailor' a showcase for the talents of Mel Lewis, fast and swinging, allowing Lewis to display his imaginative, often humorous drumming, always tasteful and swinging.

A salute to Miles Davis came next, with a number appropriately 'Miles High.' This was a band feature, with Mulligan swinging along with the band, obviously enjoying every minute of it, a feeling he manages to communicate to everyone present.

A friend in the audience requested 'My Funny Valentine' and Gerry obliged with one of the finest performances of a standard he helped to popularise I have ever heard. Accompanied by bass and drums, this was the only tune of the evening to have a Mulligan Quartet feeling, using the band only for the last chorus.

The final number for the night, of course, was the band's theme — 'Utter Chaos', which featured all the soloists.

This, then, is the Mulligan Concert Jazz Band, a big, exciting, swinging band, one in which the musicians understand and complement each other. The soloists have a fluency and continuity which one would expect from jazz men of their stature. This is a band that listens to what each man is trying to say, and gives its support to him. Listening is extremely important in a band that plays each number differently each time, changing tempi, and adding personal twists to suit the man or section leading.'          

Most of all, this is a happy band, believing in its future and one that is prepared to make sacrifices; in order to share that future. Mel Lewis, who made the Kenton '56 tour of Britain, has left his family and a steady job on the coast to join the band. Since January, Mel has flown back and forth four times to see his family and do various recording dates. Brookmeyer, who is to Gerry what Marshall Royal is to Basie, left his own very successful group, to once again become a sideman with the band. Nick Travis left a comfortable job on the Jack Paar TV show to join Gerry.

I spoke to Mel Lewis about this feeling the boys have for the band and for Gerry and. he. said: 'This is a really good band. It swings, and it gives you a freedom no other band does to play as you want to. The boys think that this could be a band you might one day compare to Basie's or Duke's. We would all like to see it reach that standard, and I feel sure that it will.'"

- Rick Barton.

Mulligan and Desmond in the Studio - From "Jazz Heritage" by Martin Williams

© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

“The Washington Post has called Martin Williams "the most knowledgeable, open-minded, and perceptive American jazz critic today," and countless others have echoed that sentiment. To Gary Giddins of The Village Voice he is "one of the most distinguished critics (of anything) this country has ever produced," and Nat Hentoff has observed, "Martin Williams persistently gets at essences, and that is why he has contributed so much to the very small body of authentic jazz criticism."”

The following are Martin Williams’ comments and observations about one of the recording sessions that was ultimately released on CD in 1989 as Paul Desmond - Gerry Mulligan TWO OF A MIND [RCA Bluebird BMG 9654-2-RB] with insert notes by Will Thornbury.

It is one of six essays in the MUSICIANS AT WORK segment in Jazz Heritage, a compilation of Martin’s writings published by Oxford University Press in 1985. 

As you can tell from the opening plaudits, anything by Martin on the subject of Jazz is worth reading and this one is especially welcomed because its story that is not often told - how Jazz goes about being made in a studio by two of the Giants of the modern idiom, in this case, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.

And, as you read Martin’s description of the session, please keep the following insight in mind: “Like most jazz recording dates, this one combined constant pressure, banter, and even levity with utter seriousness, hard work, and musical accomplishment.”

We so often take excellent Jazz recordings as a finished product, distilled in some magical way from the musicians’ minds, emotions and souls, and while that may be so to some degree, recording Jazz in a studio is a challenge under the best of circumstances, even for the likes of Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond.

“Studio A at RCA Victor Records is a large rectangular room, and recording engineers will tell you they get a very special sound there. If the group of musicians is a lot smaller than the room they install baffle boards and place their mikes carefully, and the sound they get is still special. The four-man group that Victor engineer Mickey Crofford was to record in Studio A on a warm summer evening was small in size, but not small in fame or talent—saxophonists Paul Desmond (who, of course, does most of his playing with Dave Brubeck) and Gerry Mulligan, plus bass and drums. And they were to improvise freely around arrangements written by Mulligan, which he had kept modest and flexible, with plenty of room for solo invention.

Like most jazz recording dates, this one combined constant pressure, banter, and even levity with utter seriousness, hard work, and musical accomplishment.

Desmond was early and by 7 p.m. he was seated in the engineer's booth just off Studio A. The booth is also a rectangular room, smaller than Studio A, with elaborate tape recorders and control boards at one end, and a comfortable visitors' area with chairs, couches, and a table at the other. From this booth there is a clear view of the rest of Studio A through the wide glass panel which runs along one end.

Desmond was going over some of Mulligan's scores with A & R man George Avakian, who was producing the date, and Avakian's associate, composer Bob Prince. As usual, the alto saxophonist was dressed in a neat brown Ivy League suit, white shirt, tie, and fashionably heavy-soled shoes. Also as usual, his suit was slightly in need of a press, his shirt a bit rumpled, and his shoes not recently shined.

Avakian seemed vaguely worried—for no good reason, but Avakian usually seems worried at the start of a recording date. Desmond seemed serious; Prince, confident. And Crofford was busy in the studio and in the booth with his microphones, switches, and dials.

Suddenly, all heads bobbed up as a knock on the glass and a broad grin revealed that Mulligan had arrived in Studio A. In contrast to Desmond, he was dressed in a pair of khaki slacks, a sports shirt, and a thick cardigan sweater. He was obviously ready to go to work: ready to exchange his black shoes for the white sneakers he was carrying, and to take his baritone sax out of its canvas sack and start playing.

Desmond had selected the Modern Jazz Quartet's Connie Kay as his drummer, and Kay entered almost on Mulligan's heels, waving his greetings and going immediately to work setting up his drums. Bassist John Beale, who had arrived soon after Desmond, was quietly running over his part to Kay's right. Kay had just returned from San Francisco with the Quartet. "Glad I finally got to you, Connie," said Desmond, crossing from the booth to the studio. "I was about to send up a skywriter—Connie Kay call Paul Desmond."

Crofford had placed music stands and high stools for the two horns facing the rhythm, with Desmond's alto on one stereo microphone and Mulligan's baritone on the other. Avakian—busy enough to be just now grabbing his supper, an oversized and somewhat over-drippy sandwich—was seated with pencils, note paper, and a stopwatch beside Crofford's complex array of knobs, switches, and dials.

There had to be at least one run-through to test balance and mic placement. "We'll try one, okay?" said Avakian into his microphone, as Mulligan turned to Desmond with a mock serious frown to remark, "And please try not to play your best chorus now."

"Yeah, I'll save it," he answered, perhaps implying that he really had no control over the matter.

The piece was Easy Living, with Mulligan carrying the melody, Desmond inventing a countermelody behind him and taking the first solo. The performance was promisingly good, but Prince and Crofford decided there was too much mike on Kay's cymbal, and went into the studio to move things around a bit.

After another partial run-through, Avakian asked, "Want to tape one to see how it sounds?" But Paul and Gerry had their heads together over the music sheets.

"Try that last ensemble bridge again," Mulligan was saying. "You have the melody. It's the part down there at the bottom of the page." He pointed. "It could be a little more legato sounding." Desmond looked it over.

"I just wrote those notes in so you could see the pattern," Mulligan reminded Beale. "You don't have to play anything."

"Suppose I blow what you're playing along with you?" They tried it, and everyone commented that it sounded good.

"Want to tape one?" asked Desmond, affirming Avakian's suggestion. "We can figure out from the playback what's wrong."

In a few minutes there was a preliminary take of Easy Living on tape, and after the last note of the playback had echoed through the studio, it was obvious that this was going to be a relaxed and productive record date. Even Avakian seemed convinced of it. Mulligan had played with buoyancy, Desmond with fluent melodic ideas, and the improvised counterpoint had had fine emotional and musical rapport. As one visitor said, "Yeah, tonight they're going to play!"

As saxophonist of the Brubeck Quartet, Desmond is in a rather odd position, for his talents are more respected by musicians and critics than those of his pianist-leader. There is, in fact, constant wonder in the trade as to why Paul doesn't leave Dave and go off on his own. At the same time, Desmond is of a cooler and more lyric persuasion than some of the hard-blowing funk merchants who sell well on records nowadays, which puts him out of fashion in certain circles. Mulligan is something of an elder statesman as things go in jazz: his popularity dates from the early fifties and the days of the Mulligan Quartet. Since then he has held a large following, while leading both large and small groups. Recently there has been as much talk of Mulligan the movie actor (The Subterraneans, Bells Are Ringing) and of Mulligan the Broadway composer (a promised musical version of Happy Birthday for Judy Holiday, who is to contribute the lyrics) as about Mulligan the jazzman.

Several visitors and friends were in the booth by now. And each time the door to Studio A was opened, the grinding monotony of a rock and roll date being held next door in Studio B assaulted the ears. It soon developed that some rather illustrious jazzmen were involved in that music next door, and their aesthetic escape proved to be frequent brief visits over to the Desmond-Mulligan session to hear what was going on.

After a good version of Easy Living had been put on tape, there was some banter in the studio about, "Okay, that's it. Everybody come back the same time tomorrow." And there was some serious unwinding over Cokes, while Connie Kay pulled out one of several hamburgers he had brought with him. 

But discussion of the music didn't stop, and Mulligan was soon demonstrating a point, seated at the piano that stood in the far end of the studio.

Desmond said he wasn't sure he had quite done his best by Easy Living, and requested they try a slightly faster tempo—that they "make it a little brighter," as he put it— and all agreed to try the piece again. Just then Avakian threw his switch inside the booth and announced over the studio loudspeakers, "Gentlemen, I hate to say this, but I suggest you tune up a little."

"What? How could you even imply such a thing?" protested Mulligan with affected seriousness. And he carried his heavy horn over to the piano again to correct the matter.

When the tapes were rolling, Mulligan felt free enough to do some improvising even in his written parts.

At the end of the new take, before anyone had spoken, there was silent acknowledgment that it was the best yet. "Fine," said Avakian into his mike. 

"Want to hear it back?"

Mulligan again affected his cantankerous tone. "It's bad enough making these things without having to listen to them." He turned to Desmond, bobbing his eyebrows a la Groucho Marx, "Right? That a good attitude?" And a moment later, "Well, Paul, what other tunes do you know?"

"I know Melancholy Baby."

"Who are you? Tex Beneke?" Desmond whispered quickly.

As Desmond improvised his solo, Mulligan again did his side-to-side strut. Then, with the tape still rolling and Desmond still soloing, Mulligan signaled to the rest of the group for a round of four-bar phrases from player to player, before he and Desmond went into the counterpoint choruses that finish the piece. An arrangement changed even while it was being recorded. They played the "fours," and as the saxophones were restating the theme at the end, Mulligan began to improvise and merely suggest the melody with a few key notes, as Desmond was playing it in full. It was an effective idea. This was really becoming a cooperative two-man date.

At the end of the take, Mulligan registered approval by turning his heavy horn horizontal and laying it across a raised knee. Paul entered the booth and asked almost shyly, "Where'd that coffee come from? Is it a local concern?"

Soon they were listening to a playback of a Mulligan blues they later decided to call Blight of the Fumble Bee, and a few minutes later they were running through the arranged parts of All the Things You Are. As they finished the conservative Bach-like ending Paul asked, "Isn't that a little daring?"

"Maybe," Mulligan countered. "It'll go okay in the Middle West."

As all this talk filtered through the open studio microphones into the visitors' booth someone muttered, "Maybe those two are trying to work up some kind of act. The bantering, and this Alphonse and Gaston about who's got the first solos and who has the melody and who the harmony. Maybe they could take it on tour."

"Connie," Desmond was saying, "do you remember the tempo of the last take you did?" Kay started to brush his snare drum with perfect memory, and unbelievable lightness.

On another All the Things You Are at a faster tempo, Paul seemed to be more comfortable. Gerry had been better at the slower one. Their only musical disagreement so far.

In a final take of All the Things You Are, Mulligan was smiling broadly as Desmond went into his opening "break" over suspended rhythm, and then invented a lyric solo as the beat resumed. He was still playing hunched over his horn, but this time he was allowing himself a slight motion of the legs in  time to his improvising.

At the end, everyone seemed pleased with the performance. But the playback revealed a once-in-a-thousand accident: one of the microphones had briefly cut off during the counterpoint, and some bass notes didn't get on the tape. Desmond was especially disappointed, and for a moment looked as if he didn't want to play any more.

With their heads together, Avakian and Prince decided they could rerecord the bass part later and blend in the few missing notes, saving the performance.

"Otherwise, Bob," said Avakian, as everyone's relief settled in, "did you ever see a more relaxed and easy date?" Mulligan had again sat at the piano and was somehow running through a Mexican waltz, alternating it with some raucous low-down blues.

The ending Mulligan had designed for Stardust was rather complicated but Connie Kay had it after one explanation, and with no music sheet to refer to.

Mulligan said after a run-through: "Did you play a B flat there instead of a B natural?"

Desmond: "Um huh."

Mulligan: "Goodness gracious!"

As the take started, there was a fluent opening exposition by Mulligan, and it was evident from his first phrase that Stardust has a special meaning for him; he became so involved in his playing that at first he didn't hear Avakian calling out that there was not enough tape on the machines to finish the piece, that they had to put on another reel before making a full take.

On the next try, more new ideas rolled out of Mulligan's horn, and then Avakian waxed philosophical. "Very good! But it always seems to me if you get a very good one you should try another. A very good one may be a sign that an excellent one is on the way."

"Well, I don't hear anything dramatic about it," said Desmond quietly, "but otherwise it was very good."

They did Stardust again, and Mulligan's involvement was unabated. At one particularly delicate turn of phrase, a visitor in the booth yelled out. And in the studio Paul indicated his pleasure by smiling and pretending to conduct Kay and Beale, waggling his right forefinger in the student conductor's double-triangle 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4.

At the end, as they heard it played back, Mulligan smiled and laughed aloud at one of Desmond's phrases, and he danced a bit during the ensemble.

When  the speakers  were silent again,  Desmond said quietly, "I think it's about time to amble on home, for me, anyway."

Mulligan started to play his theme song. And Kay had his cymbals almost packed away. (1963)”