Gerry Mulligan - The Unforgettable '2021

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Lover Man
02. These Foolish Things
03. Almost Like Being In Love
04. Ill Remember April
05. Too Marvelous for Words
06. Sextet
07. Broadway
08. All the Things You Are
09. Come out Wherever You Are
10. Five Brothers
11. Laura
12. Bernies Tune
13. Walkin Shoes
14. Lady Be Good
15. I Cant Believe That Youre in Love with Me
16. Round Midnight
17. Love Me or Leave Me
18. Sweet and Lovely
19. Decidedly (Take 4)
20. Moonlight in Vermont
21. Straight No Chaser (Take 3)
22. The Lady Is a Tramp / Utter Chaos
23. Reunion
24. When Your Lover Has Gone
25. Stardust
26. Rhythm-A-Ning
27. Jersey Bounce
28. I Mean You (Take 4)
29. Ornithology
30. My Heart Belongs to Daddy
31. Lets Fall In Love
32. Anything Goes
33. That Old Feeling
34. This Cant Be Love
35. A Ballad
36. Travlin Light
37. Too Close for Comfort
38. What Is There To Say
39. Just in Time
40. Festive Minor
41. My Funny Valentine
42. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
43. Utter Chaos
44. News from Blueport
45. Chelsea Bridge
46. The Cat Walk
47. Sunday
48. Whos Got Rhythm?
49. Go Home
50. Blueport
51. Bunny
52. Whats the Rush
53. Back Beat
54. As Catch Can
55. Tell Me When
56. 18 Carrots for Rabbit
57. Shady Side
58. Whats It All About


 Read MoreBirth of the CoolGerry Mulligans first notable recorded work on
baritone was with Miles Davis Birth of the Cool nonet (1948-50) but once again
his arrangements (Godchild, Darn That Dream and three of his originals Jeru,
Rocker and Venus de Milo) were more significant than his short solos. Mulligan
spent much of 1949 writing for Elliot Lawrences orchestra and playing
anonymously in the saxophone section. It was not until 1951 that he began to get
a bit of attention for his work on baritone. Mulligan recorded with his own
nonet for Prestige, displaying an already recognizable sound. After he traveled
to Los Angeles, he wrote some arrangements for Stan Kenton (including
Youngblood, Swing House and Walking Shoes), worked at the Lighthouse and then
gained a regular Monday night engagement at the Haig. Around this time Mulligan
realized that he enjoyed the extra freedom of soloing without a pianist. He
jammed with trumpeter Chet Baker and soon their magical rapport was featured in
his piano-less quartet. The group caught on quickly in 1952 and made both
Mulligan and Baker into stars.

A drug bust put Mulligan out of action and ended that quartet but, when he was
released from jail in 1954, Mulligan began a new musical partnership with valve
trombonist Bob Brookmeyer that was just as successful. Trumpeter Jon Eardley and
Zoot Sims on tenor occasionally made the group a sextet and in 1958 trumpeter
Art Farmer was featured in Mulligans Quartet. Being a very flexible player with
respect for other stylists, Mulligan went out of his way to record with some of
the great musicians he admired. At the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival he traded off
with baritonist Harry Carney on Prima Bara Dubla while backed by the Duke
Ellington Orchestra, and during 1957-60 he recorded separate albums with
Thelonious Monk, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges.
Mulligan played on the classic Sound of Jazz television special in 1958 and
appeared in the movies I Want to Live and The Subterraneans.

During 1960-64 Mulligan led his Concert Jazz Band which gave him an opportunity
to write, play baritone and occasionally double on piano. The orchestra at times
included Brookmeyer, Sims, Clark Terry and Mel Lewis. Mulligan was a little less
active after the big band broke up but he toured extensively with the Dave
Brubeck Quartet (1968-72), had a part-time big band in the 1970s (the Age of
Steam), doubled on soprano for a period, led a mid-70s sextet that included
vibraphonist Dave Samuels, and in 1986 jammed on a record with Scott Hamilton.
In the 1990s he toured the world with his excellent no-name quartet and led a
Rebirth of the Cool Band that performed and recorded remakes of the Miles Davis
Nonet classics. Up until the end, Gerry Mulligan was always eager to play.

Among Mulligans compositions were Walkin Shoes, Line for Lyons, Bark for
Barksdale, Nights at the Turntable, Utter Chaos, Soft Shoe, Blueport, Song for
Strayhorn, Song for an Unfinished Woman and I Never Was a Young Man (which he
often sang). He recorded extensively through the years for such labels as
Prestige, Pacific Jazz, Capitol, Vogue, EmArcy, Columbia, Verve, Milestone,
United Artists, Philips, Limelight, A&M, CTI, Chiaroscuro, Whos Who, DRG,
Concord and GRP. ~ Scott Yanow

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