Gerry Mulligan, Birth of the Cool & West Coast Jazz

Posted January 6th, 2012 at 12:10 pm (UTC+0)
5 comments

Diaa Bekheet | Washington, DC – American baritone saxophonist and clarinetist Gerry Mulligan was one of the founding fathers of “Cool Jazz,” a new music style that turned jazz on its head in the late 1940s when the influence of bebop was sweeping the scene. Mulligan’s rhythmic agility, harmonic brilliance and arranging skills so impressed the trumpet great Miles Davis that he decided to add him to his band.

In fact, the talented arranger and commanding composer played a pivotal role in developing the sounds of “Cool Jazz” when he joined Davis’ nonet. Billed as the “Miles Davis Band”, the nonet also grouped Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz and trombonist Mike Zwerin,  pianist John Lewis, bassist Al McKibbon, and drummer Max Roach with Bill Barber on tuba, Junior Collins on French horn. They all gathered in brainstorming sessions, and the result was Birth of the Cool album in 1948. Mulligan wrote and arranged several tracks. Those sessions also marked the arrival of a new generation of jazz greats who would later have a great influence and impact on the world’s music scene.

Described as the most famous of all jazz baritone saxophonists, Mulligan is also considered one of the major pioneers of West Coast jazz, along with jazz giants Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, Shorty Rogers, Paul Desmond, Bud Shank, Russ Freeman, and Bill Holman.

I profiled Mulligan on my Jazz Club USA twice.  The first show was Jazz masters of the fifties, but here’s a show on the All-Star Tribute to him. Music follows Arabic narration.

[audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2012_01/jazzbeat_All-Star_Tribute_Gerry_Mulligan_Brubeck_Romance.mp3]

Mulligan was born in New York in 1927. At the age of 14, he began studying clarinet at the hands of a little-known musician, Sammy Correnti, who also taught him the basics and rudiments of arranging. At 17, he started to arrange music for WCAU radio in Philadelphia.

The gifted baritone player and bandleader started his famous ‘piano-less’ quartet in 1952 with the “Prince of Cool” trumpeter great Chet Baker, bassist Bob Whitlock and drummer Chico Hamilton. Since the 1950s, he led quartets, quintets, and big bands. He was a featured member of the All-Star group. Many of his compositions are now a permanent part of the jazz repertory.

In 1981, Mulligan won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band, for his lightly swinging arrangements written for Walk On The Water. In 1982, his album Re-Birth of the Cool was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Two years later Mulligan himself was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

Mulligan appeared in several movies and short films, including Follow That Music in 1946 with Gene Krupa’s bop-tinged band. He played alto saxophone. He also appeared as a jazz combo member in I Want to Live! (1958), The Rat Race (1960), The Subterraneans (1960) and Bells Are Ringing (1960).

He also appeared in a number of American and French films, including A Thousand Clowns (1965), La Menace (1977) and Les Petites galères (1977).

The jazz scene’s top “bari” player has left hundreds of compositions and 33 albums. He died in Connecticut in 1996.

Although Mulligan‘s baritone might be missing, some say his music does live on.

 

For more on jazz music, listen to VOA’s Jazz America

Diaa Bekheet
Diaa Bekheet has worked for a host of media outlets, including Radio Cairo in English, ETV News, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) and the Associated Press. He joined VOA in Feb. 1989 as an International Broadcaster, hosting a variety of popular news and entertainment shows such as Newshour, Radio Ride Across America, Business Week, and Jazz Club USA. He has interviewed a number of Jazz celebrities, including the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, Ramsey Lewis, Wayne Shorter, and George Benson. Diaa is currently an editor for our main English site, VOAnews.com.

5 responses to “Gerry Mulligan, Birth of the Cool & West Coast Jazz”

  1. […] original here:  Gerry Mulligan, Birth of the Cool – Voice of America (blog)Share this on del.icio.usDigg this!Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUponShare this on […]

  2. Ciaran Mulcahy says:

    Never too popular. But I like Miles Davis, Gerry MULLIGAN, AND OTHERS, AND WOULD WISH TO HEAR THEIR RECORDINGS MORE OFTEN.

  3. Myriam Roques says:

    Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossips and net and this is really frustrating. A good web site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thank you for keeping this web site, I’ll be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can not find it.

  4. Adan Fodness says:

    Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this information. Todays bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is really annoying. A good web site with exciting content (like yours doh!) is what I need. Thanks for making this web-site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters?

  5. Ciaran Mulcahy says:

    I haven’t a website, and I ‘haven’t’ blogged up to now. But one of my great interests is music of ‘all’ types, and it always has been. For years, one has only been able to satisfy one’s interests by listening to whatever U.S. media one can, especially AFN Europe; VOA.; shortwave; satellite, and now via the web. More recently, NPR (via relays); WUOT (discovered first on a satellite-relay, and then on the web). Just heard of the website: unclemarvy.com I will check it out. Among Miles Davis many recordings was the Theme-Music for a 1960’s David Janssen movie. Music-wise, I’ve discovered that the ‘web’ (even before such things existed) is what I must always have been looking for. An easy way to find out anything, instantly.

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VOA’s music bloggers bring you info about all kinds of music. Katherine Cole will keep you up-to-date on the world of Bluegrass and Americana music while Ray McDonald rocks the Pop charts and artists. Diaa Bekheet  jams with you on Jazz.  Visit us often. Your comments are welcome.

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