I have long admired the music of Gerry Mulligan and it is a real pleasure to be able to present his music to audiences.  Gerry Mulligan is considered the most influential jazz baritone saxophonist in the 20th century.  His career spanned 5 decades and his lyrical playing style became an integral part of what was known as the 'West Coast Cool School' of jazz.  He was a significant part of Miles Davis' seminal jazz recording 'Birth of the Cool' in 1949.  His concert jazz band was performing his arrangements in the 1990's.  Gerry Mulligan was played with grace and gentleness when he improvised and his solos always had a warmth to them that made them personal. 

This Mulligan project features different sized groups in a full concert presentation that highlights the music of Gerry Mulligan.  I can now offer the small groups - quartet, quintet and septet - that will perform a 90 minute concert that feature the tunes that Gerry Mulligan did with his groundbreaking pianoless quartet and his larger groups.  This entertaining concert includes great performances along with a narrative about Gerry Mulligan's music and life during his career that spanned six decades.

The concert includes tunes performed by the pianoless quartet - sax/trombone/bass/drums - sax/trumpet/bass/drums - along with tunes played by the sextet/septet - baritone sax/trumpet/trombone/tenor sax/piano/bass/drums - and the normal quartet of sax/piano/bass/drums.  Thus the concert not only features the great tunes of Gerry Mulligan but also provides a tremendous variety of sounds to the audience with the different instrumentation during the concert.

We are also able to offer small group bookings for clubs and other venues where the larger ensemble might not be suitable.  The smaller groups - from pianoless quartet or quintet - perform this music with just as much enthusiasm as the septet.  In fact, whether a small group or the septet, we may perform any tune with different instrumentation from one night to the next.

Our premier performance of a short version of our concert was at the 2010 Ottawa Jazz Festival and we had a terrific time.  The audience also enjoyed the tunes very much given all the great feedback that we got.  A wonderful start to this concert project.  While we were not able to get a good recording from that performance I have posted 3 tunes from the jazz festival below.  Not great sound but you will get an idea about our live performance.  The other sound clips below are recordings done as demos for the band.

In 1952, following up the Birth of the Cool recording, he formed a group with trumpeter Chet Baker.  They settled on the pianoless quartet with the two of them, a bassist and a drummer.  That group, which came together in Los Angeles, helped solidify California as the home territory for what was called the Cool School of jazz.  One of his first recording with this quartet was 'Bernie's Tune' written by Bernie Miller and it became one of Mulligan's best known tunes along with his own Line for Lyons.  He was one of the best selling and most popular jazz artists of the 20th century.

While he was a great performer on his baritone saxophone, he was also a great arranger and writer of many compositions.  This project highlights his compositions and innovations as a performer.  While most jazz fans would be familiar with tunes such as 'Line For Lyons' there are many other tunes that he wrote that are wonderful to play, have been performed by many musicians and have been enjoyed by many audiences around the world but are less well known to the general public.

Our intent is to perform his music in the spirit that he composed and performed it but we put our own inspiration on his tunes and thus our concerts are not just a recreation of his recorded music but a creative and in-the-moment inspired performance.  Our concerts also include a narrative about Gerry Mulligan, his music and his life as a musician.