The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets

Abstract The book places Gerry Mulligan’s 1950s pianoless quartet in its historical and musical context by a detailed discussion of its recordings. Mulligan’s early arrangements from his teens are explored, for bandleaders Elliot Lawrence and Gene Krupa, before he joins Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool” nonet. Moving to the West Coast, he arranges for Stan Kenton, and then forms his pianoless quartet at the Haig Club in Los Angeles with trumpeter Chet Baker and they experience commercial success, helping to launch the Pacific Jazz label, before Mulligan is imprisoned for heroin offenses. The group’s records create a template for his subsequent small-group work during the rest of the decade and its harmonic innovation is explored. Mulligan’s reworking of his compositions for bands of ten and six pieces is also examined, as is his first tour to Europe and later international work with Jazz at the Philharmonic. His tempestuous relationship with valve-trombonist Bob Brookmeyer is discussed, as is his marriage to Arlene Mulligan, who became his manager. The later quartets with Jon Eardley and Art Farmer are covered, as well as a successful couple of reunions with Brookmeyer, the final one in the context of the Mulligan Concert Jazz Band at the dawn of the 1960s.