Gerry Mulligan

A detailed Summary of Gerry Mulligan


Gerry Mulligan was known for his outstanding writing skills along with his talent

as a baritone saxophonist. Mulligan's skills were developed at an early age, when

he was seventeen he wrote for Jonny Warrington's radio band. Even before

settling on the baritone sax, he played the piano and other various reed

instruments. He also wrote arrangements for influential musicians such as Claude

Thornhill and Stan Kenton (Down Beat 1).

Mulligan became known for his work as an arranger, writer, and soloist on

the Miles Davis Album The Birth of Cool. Some of Mulligan's Compositions

included on this album are Godchild and Jeru (Klinkowitz 233). His influential

involvement with this album helped to launch his career.

After his success he then moved to Los Angeles where Mulligan, along

with trumpeter Chet Baker, formed the first piano-less quartet (Down Beat1) This

was unheard of at the time, and was definitely a shock to the jazz community

(Williams 29). The event that attributed to this unusual quartet happened at a gig

one night when the piano player, Jimmy Rawles didn't show up. Due to the fact

that the group was forced to play without him, Mulligan came to the realization

that he could carry the band without the


Complementing the solo, the drums pick up the pace in the background. As the

piece unifies the song. The sax and trumpet harmonizing together give an added

Using brushes rather than sticks is a technique associated with cool jazz that

idea, hired the quartet. This led to the start of the popularity of the piano-less

flowing, swing rhythm. This rhythm causes the audience to want to tap their feet



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Approximate Word count = 1025
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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