| Contact, Prizewinners of the 2020 Gerry’s Jazz Challenge Announced. This was the first jazz CD Plus (with photos and video clips after each tune) produced in the world. The band initially consisted of Davis on trumpet, Mulligan on baritone saxophone, trombonist Mike Zwerin, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, Junior Collins on French horn, tubist Bill Barber, pianist John Lewis, bassist Al McKibbon and drummer Max Roach. In 1982, Gerry was invited by Maestro Mehta to play solo soprano saxophone in Ravel’s Bolero with the New York Philharmonic in the closing concert of their season. At various times in the 1970s he performed with Charles Mingus. While novel at the time in sound and style, this ethos of contrapuntal group improvisation hearkened back to the formative days of jazz. When Mulligan was sixteen, he approached Johnny Warrington at local radio station WCAU about writing arrangements for the station's house band. In October of 1984, Mulligan opened his European tour at the Royal Festival Hall in London, where he performed Entente and Freedman’s The Sax Chronicles with the London Symphony Orchestra, led by Michel Sasson. Mulligan also arranged for and recorded with bands led by Georgie Auld and Chubby Jackson. Gerry Mulligan passed away in January 1996. Gerry performing at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1995. Gerry Mulligan would not, could not, be categorized, and he flourished through changing times, in many cultures, and with many musical voices ranging from the baritone saxophone that was his principal instrument, to the full orchestra.”, Billington also paid tribute to Franca Mulligan, Gerry’s wife, as “a valued friend with whom we have worked and will continue to work on many projects that have been inspired by Gerry’s life and work.”, Longtime friend of Gerry and Franca Mulligan, the Venerable Thamthog Rinpoche, abbot of monasteries in Tibet and master of the Sera Je Monastery in India and the Center of Tibetan Studies in Milan, came from Italy just for the ceremony and draped a ceremonial scarf or “Kata” on the saxophone. Gerry Mulligan Legacy, also sponsored by the Library of Congress via a grant from the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Fund, was released by N2K, Inc. in January 1997. In 1977, in honor of Gerry’s fiftieth birthday, the Canadian Broadcasting Company commissioned the eminent Canadian composer, Harry Freedman, to write a symphonic work. Other inductees included violinist Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., songwriter Linda Creed, and singer Patti LaBelle. He has been featured on musical soundtracks by such outstanding film composers as André Previn, Quincy Jones, Elmer Bernstein, and Johnny Mandel. He made the following statement on the music of Gerry Mulligan: “Music is important to our lives, and can have a positive or negative effect, depending on our motivation, and the action of our mind. Mulligan formed his first "Concert Jazz Band" in the spring of 1960. Dominating the back wall of the exhibition are handsome woodblock-print portraits of Gerry Mulligan in different shades, by Antonio Frasconi. Mulligan made an attempt at arranging with the Richard Rodgers song "Lover", but the arrangement was seized prior to its first reading by an overzealous nun who was taken aback by the title on the arrangement.[3]. Ellington composed “Prima Bara Dubla” for Mulligan and his good friend, baritone saxophonist Harry Carney. Mulligan continued to lead small, medium-sized and large bands, all of which evolved from the pianoless quartet idea. It never hurts to have someone like him give you a shove when you’re young.”, Gerry outside of a TV studio in New York, 1957. Later in 1994, Mulligan focused his attention on activities designed to further jazz education. These three informal sessions took place in June, July, and August 1952 at the Hollywood Hills cottage of recording engineer Phil Turetsky. Also in 1993, as in every year, Mulligan made several tours of Europe and appearances at Carnegie Hall. This quartet structure remained the core of Mulligan's groups throughout the rest of the 1950s with sporadic personnel changes and expansions of the group with trumpeters Jon Eardley and Art Farmer, saxophonists Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and Lee Konitz, and vocalist Annie Ross. Gerry was also part of the internationally televised events of the Bicentennial closing ceremonies of Liberty Weekend in New York, as a guest soloist with the Manhattan Transfer group. In 1982, a CBS-TV profile, capturing Mulligan both on tour with the Concert Jazz Band and at his Connecticut home, was broadcast on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt. “When you’re young and you have a vision, you have an incredible amount of guts,” Gerry explained, realizing that Warrington must have been amused by the high school kid’s display of determination. Mulligan enjoyed a close association with Maestro Zubin Mehta, who encouraged and inspired Gerry to write for the symphony orchestra. In April/May 1995, Mulligan toured in Europe with his Quartet. One of the most widely respected and admired jazz musicians of our time, Gerry Mulligan occupies a unique place in the American musical scene. Considered one of the seminal albums of modern jazz, Birth of the Cool was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982. [5] Mulligan's first recording sessions in Los Angeles were produced by Bock for Pacific Jazz. She and Mulligan also had a personal relationship from 1966 through 1972. The Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame Museum and Jazz Club, designed and constructed in collaboration with Universal Studios, was opened in February 1999 at Universal CityWalk in Orlando, Florida. These were eventually compiled on a Capitol Records long-playing record, titled Birth of the Cool. The Gerry Mulligan Permanent Collection at the Library of Congress, includes original scores, lead sheets, sketches, arrangements, photographs, sound recordings and more. - IMDb Mini Biography By: d-mari@tc.umn.edu Spouse (3) In September, Mr. Mulligan reassembled the Gerry Mulligan Tentet, “Re-Birth of the Cool,” for appearances in Brazil. Photo by Hank O’Neal. Gerry Mulligan was included on the Artists Committee for the 1995 Kennedy Center Honors for the Performing Arts, and in December he attended the ceremonies in Washington with his wife, Franca, including a reception at the White House, where they met Pres. In his opening remarks, James Billington said: “Gerry Mulligan, whose career spanned five decades, worked gracefully in many styles and with many artists, defying the categories that so often narrow our vision of a creative spirit. Gerry performing with the New York Philharmonic, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, December 1989. The band also recorded an album of songs sung by Mulligan's girlfriend Judy Holliday in 1961. American jazz baritone saxophonist, arranger and composer, West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, Lee Konitz Plays with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Gene Norman Presents the Original Gerry Mulligan Tentet and Quartet, The Teddy Wilson Trio & Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Bob Brookmeyer at Newport, Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band on Tour, Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band at the Village Vanguard, Gerry Mulligan Presents a Concert in Jazz, The Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Bob Brookmeyer, We're All Together Again for the First Time, "Gerry Mulligan, a Baritone Saxophonist And 'Cool School' Jazz Pioneer, Dies at 68", "Growing Up -- Jeru: In the Words of Gerry Mulligan, and Oral Autobiography (The Gerry Mulligan Collection at the Library of Congress, Performing Arts Encyclopedia, The Library of Congress)", "Jazz Profiles: Robert Gordon – Jazz West Coast: The Los Angeles Jazz Scene of the 1950s – Chapter 4", "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire", The Gerry Mulligan Collection, circa 1940-1994, A site with information on Mulligan and all the great Jazz baritone saxophonists, Craig Allan Hanley's repository of Mulligan liner notes, articles and information, Excerpts from Mulligan's oral autobiography, An extensive Mulligan discography and record of performances, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerry_Mulligan&oldid=983238507, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 1981 Grammy Award (Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band) for, 1984 inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame, 1989 received keys to the city of Trieste, Italy, 1990 Philadelphia Music Foundation Hall of Fame, 1992 Lionel Hampton School of Music Hall of Fame, 1992 Guest composer at the Mertens Contemporary American Composer's Festival, University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, 42 consecutive years (1953–1995) winning the, This page was last edited on 13 October 2020, at 02:24.
Mulligan died in Darien, Connecticut, on January 20, 1996, at the age of 68, following complications from knee surgery. But in later years their relationship became strained as Mulligan, with considerable effort, would manage to kick his habit, while Baker's addiction bedevilled him professionally and personally almost constantly until his death in 1988.[6].
A Memorial Service “A Celebration of the Life of Gerry Mulligan” was held on February 12th, at St. Peter’s Church in New York. However, Davis died in September and Mulligan continued the recording project and tour with Wallace Roney and Art Farmer subbing for Davis. When the school moved into a new building and established music courses, Mulligan decided to play clarinet in the school's nascent orchestra. Mulligan had small roles in the films I Want to Live! Mulligan also performed numerous times on television programmes during his career. This fortuitous collaboration came to an abrupt end with Mulligan's arrest on narcotics charges in mid-1953 leading to six months at Sheriff's Honor Farm. Zubin Mehta conducting. Although Mulligan usually referred to her as his second wife. This was made possible by the Library of Congress via a grant from the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Fund. When Gerry Mulligan was 14, his family moved to Detroit and then to Reading, Pennsylvania. Unequivocally, in December of 1989, the highlight of Mulligan’s work with symphonic orchestra occurred when the Gerry Mulligan Quartet appeared with the New York Philharmonic, led by Maestro Mehta, in a highly successful six-concert series at Lincoln Center. Mulligan also began playing saxophone professionally in dance bands in Philadelphia, an hour and a half or so away. Mulligan wrote and arranged three of the tunes recorded ("Rocker", "Venus de Milo", and "Jeru", the last named after himself), and arranged a further three ("Deception", "Godchild", and "Darn That Dream").