Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz musician who played the saxophone, clarinet, piano, and other instruments. He was best known for his work as a baritone saxophonist, using a soft and light sound during the cool jazz era. Mulligan also worked as an arranger for famous musicians such as Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis, and Stan Kenton. In the early 1950s, he formed a piano-less quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker, which is still considered one of the greatest cool jazz groups. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played other reed instruments. Some of his songs, such as "Walkin' Shoes" and "Five Brothers," are now considered jazz standards.

Biography

Gerry Mulligan was born in Queens Village, Queens, New York, to George and Louise Mulligan. His father was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and had Irish ancestors. His mother was born in Philadelphia and had Irish and German ancestors. Gerry was the youngest of four brothers, with George, Phil, and Don older than him.

George Mulligan worked as an engineer, which required the family to move often to different cities. When Gerry was less than a year old, the family moved to Marion, Ohio, where his father got a job at the Marion Power Shovel Company.

Raising a large family with four young boys was challenging, so Gerry’s mother hired an African American nanny named Lily Rose. Rose became especially close to Gerry. As Gerry grew older, he spent time at Rose’s home and enjoyed her player piano, which had music rolls by famous musicians like Fats Waller. Sometimes, Black musicians stayed at homes in the Black community because motels would not allow them. Gerry occasionally met these musicians at Rose’s home.

The family moved again, living in South Jersey (where Gerry stayed with his grandmother), Chicago, and Kalamazoo, Michigan, where Gerry lived for three years and attended Catholic school. When the school built a new building and added music classes, Gerry decided to play the clarinet in the school’s new orchestra. He tried arranging the song "Lover" by Richard Rodgers, but a nun who was surprised by the song’s title took the arrangement before it was performed.

At age 14, Gerry’s family moved to Detroit and then to Reading, Pennsylvania. In Reading, Gerry studied clarinet with a musician named Sammy Correnti, who also encouraged Gerry’s interest in arranging music. Gerry also began playing saxophone professionally in dance bands in Philadelphia, which was about an hour and a half away.

The family later moved to Philadelphia, where Gerry attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys. He organized a school big band and wrote arrangements for it. At 16, Gerry contacted Johnny Warrington at a local radio station, WCAU, about writing arrangements for the station’s house band. Warrington was impressed and started buying Gerry’s arrangements.

Gerry left high school during his senior year to work with a touring band. He met bandleader Tommy Tucker at a theater in Philadelphia. Though Tucker did not need another reed player, he was looking for an arranger and hired Gerry for $100 a week to create two or three arrangements each week. After three months, Tucker told Gerry to join a different band that was more exciting. Gerry returned to Philadelphia and began writing arrangements for Elliot Lawrence, who had taken over as the band leader at WCAU.

In January 1946, Gerry moved to New York City and joined the arranging team for Gene Krupa’s band. Some of Gerry’s arrangements for Krupa included "Birdhouse," "Disc Jockey Jump," and an arrangement of "How High the Moon," which borrowed a melody from Charlie Parker’s "Ornithology."

Gerry later worked as an arranger for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, sometimes playing in the reed section. Thornhill’s arranging team included Gil Evans, whom Gerry had met while working with Krupa. Gerry eventually lived with Evans in his apartment on West 55th Street, which became a gathering place for jazz musicians exploring new styles.

In September 1948, Miles Davis formed a nine-piece band that used arrangements by Gerry, Gil Evans, and John Lewis. The band included Davis on trumpet, Gerry on baritone saxophone, and other musicians. The group performed only a few times live but later recorded twelve songs, which were released as the 1957 album Birth of the Cool. Gerry wrote and arranged three of the songs ("Rocker," "Venus de Milo," and "Jeru") and arranged three others.

Gerry was one of only four musicians who played on all the recordings, along with Davis, Lee Konitz, and Bill Barber. Though the band was not well-received at first, it later became recognized as one of the most important groups in jazz history, influencing the development of West Coast Jazz.

Between 1949 and 1951, Gerry worked with the Davis band and also performed with and arranged for trombonist Kai Winding. His compositions "Elevation" and his arrangement of "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" were recorded by Elliot Lawrence, bringing Gerry more recognition. He also arranged for bands led by Georgie Auld and Chubby Jackson.

In September 1951, Gerry recorded his first album under his own name, Mulligan Plays Mulligan. By this time, he had developed a musical style inspired by Lester Young that he used for the rest of his career.

In early 1952, Gerry moved to Los Angeles with his girlfriend, pianist Gail Madden, to find better job opportunities. Through a connection with arranger Bob Graettinger, Gerry began writing arrangements for Stan Kenton’s Orchestra. While most of his work for Kenton was for dance performances, Gerry also included some original compositions, such as "Walking Shoes" and "Young Blood," which showed his unique musical style.

While working with Kenton, Gerry played at a small jazz club called The Haig in Los Angeles. During jam sessions, a young trumpeter named Chet Baker began playing with Gerry. Gerry and Baker started recording together, though they were not happy with the results. Around this time, vibraphonist Red Norvo’s trio began performing at The Haig, which meant the grand piano used for Erroll Garner’s performances was no longer needed.

Faced with the challenge of finding a rhythm section, Gerry decided to form a pianoless quartet with Baker on trumpet, Carson Smith on bass, and Chico Hamilton on drums. Later, Gerry sometimes played piano himself. These early performances were recorded by Richard Bock using a portable tape recorder. Bock and Roy Harte later started the Pacific Jazz label and released Gerry’s recordings. Gerry’s first recordings in Los Angeles were produced by Bock for Pacific Jazz. These sessions took place in June, July, and August 1952 at the home of recording engineer Phil Turetsky. At these sessions, Gerry, Chet Baker, and others recorded music that was later released as Pacific Jazz PJ LP-1 and PJ-8.

Baker’s musical style matched Gerry’s, leading them to create music together.

Theatre and film

Gerry Mulligan's first film appearance was likely in a short film called Follow That Music (1946), where he played the alto saxophone with Krupa's orchestra. He had small roles in several films, including I Want to Live! (1958), where he played with a jazz group; Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960), which showed his performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; The Rat Race (1960), where he played the tenor saxophone instead of his usual instrument; The Subterraneans (1960); and Bells Are Ringing (1960), where he appeared with his then-partner, Judy Holliday. Mulligan also performed on many television programs throughout his career.

As a film composer, Mulligan created music for A Thousand Clowns (1965, including the title theme), the film version of the Broadway comedy Luv (1967), the French films La Menace (1977) and Les Petites galères (1977, with Ástor Piazzolla), and I'm Not Rappaport (1996, including the title theme).

In 1974, Mulligan worked on a musical version of Anita Loos's play Happy Birthday. Although the team had high hopes for the project, it did not progress beyond a workshop production at the University of Alabama. In 1978, Mulligan composed incidental music for Dale Wasserman's Broadway play Play with Fire.

In 1995, the Hal Leonard Corporation released a video tape titled The Gerry Mulligan Workshop – A Master Class on Jazz and Its Legendary Players.

Personal life

Mulligan married Jeffie Lee Boyd in 1953, but the marriage was not valid. Later that same year, he married Arlyne Brown, the daughter of songwriter Lew Brown. Their son, Reed Brown Mulligan, was born in 1957. The couple divorced in 1959.

Mulligan spent the next six years with actress and singer Judy Holliday. They recorded an album together called Holliday With Mulligan. Holliday died of cancer in 1965. After her death, Mulligan met actress Sandy Dennis. According to her manager, Bill Treusch, Dennis and Mulligan did not have a legal marriage but were together from 1965 to 1976. In 1974, Mulligan met Countess Franca Rota Borghini Baldovinetti through their mutual friend Astor Piazzolla. They did not marry until 1982. They remained together until his death.

Awards

• 1981 Grammy Award for the album Walk on the Water in the category of Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band
• 1981 Grammy nominations for the albums The Age of Steam, For an Unfinished Woman, and Soft Lights and Sweet Music
• 1982 The Birth of the Cool album was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame
• 1982 Received the Connecticut Arts Award
• 1984 Won the Viotti Prize in Vercelli, Italy
• 1984 Added to the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
• 1988 Named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University
• 1989 Received keys to the city of Trieste, Italy
• 1990 Added to the Philadelphia Music Foundation Hall of Fame
• 1991 Added to the American Jazz Hall of Fame
• 1992 Named a guest composer at the Mertens Contemporary American Composer's Festival at the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut
• 1994 Added to the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame
• 1995 Served on the Artists Committee for the Kennedy Center Honors for the Performing Arts
• 1953–1995 Won the Down Beat magazine reader’s poll for Outstanding Baritone Saxophonist for 42 years in a row

Discography

• 1950: The Gerry Mulligan Quartet and Gerry Mulligan with the Chubby Jackson Big Band – The big band recordings from 1950 were led by bassist Chubby Jackson. The band included musicians such as Howard McGhee, Zoot Sims, and J. J. Johnson. The quartet recordings, featuring Chet Baker, were made during two sessions in 1952.
• 1951: Mulligan Plays Mulligan (Prestige, 1951) [10-inch] – re-released as Historically Speaking (1957) [LP].
• 1952: Gerry Mulligan Quartet Volume 1 (Pacific Jazz, 1952) [10-inch].
• 1953: Lee Konitz Plays with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet (Pacific Jazz, 1953) [10-inch] – re-released as a compilation album with the same title and previously unreleased tracks and alternate takes (1957) [LP].
• 1953: Gerry Mulligan Quartet Volume 2 (Pacific Jazz, 1953) [10-inch].
• 1955: Elliot Lawrence Band Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (Verve) – includes tracks such as "The Rocker," "Happy Hooligan," "Mullinium," and "Apple Core."
• 1955: Gene Krupa (Columbia) – includes track 5, "Disc Jockey Jump" (1947) (co-written with Gene Krupa).
• 1956: Kenny Clarke’s Sextet – Plays André Hodeir (Philips) – includes track 6, "Jeru."
• 1956: Chet Baker & Crew – includes track 4, "Revelation."
• 1958: Carl Stevens – "Skin" And Bones (Mercury) – includes track 1, "Walkin' Shoes."
• 1959: Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (Verve) – includes tracks such as "Bird House," "Mulligan Stew," and "Birds of a Feather."
• 1960: Chet Baker – Sextet & Quartet (Music) (In Milan, Jazzland) – includes track 4, "Line for Lyons."
• 1961: Brew Moore – Live In Europe 1961 (Sonorama) – released in 2015, includes track 2, "Apple Core."
• 1961: Charlie Parker – "Bird" Is Free (Musidisc) – includes track 1, "Rocker."
• 1976: Paul Desmond – Live (Horizon) – includes "Line For Lyons" (Verve reissue CD bonus track).
• 1982: Dave Grusin – Out Of The Shadows (GRP) – includes track 4, "Five Brothers."
• 2004: Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette – The Out-Of-Towners (ECM) – includes track 5, "Five Brothers."
• 2008: The Dutch Jazz Orchestra – Moon Dreams – Rediscovered Music Of Gil Evans & Gerry Mulligan (Challenge) – includes tracks such as "Joost At The Roost," "The Major And The Minor," and "Brew's Tune."
• 2010: Trudy Kerr and Ingrid James – Reunion (Jazzizit) – includes track 4, "Soft Shoe."

• 1955: Elliot Lawrence – Elliot Lawrence Band Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (Verve) – includes tracks such as "The Rocker," "Happy Hooligan," "Bweebida Bwobbida," "Mullinium," "Apple Core," "Elegy for Two Clarinets," "The Swinging Door," "Mr. President."
• 1956: Kenny Clarke’s Sextet – Plays André Hodeir (Philips) – includes track 6, "Jeru."
• 1956: Chet Baker – Chet Baker & Crew – includes track 4, "Revelation."
• 1958: Carl Stevens – "Skin" And Bones (Mercury) – includes track 1, "Walkin' Shoes."
• 1959: Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements (Verve) – includes tracks such as "Bird House," "Mulligan Stew," "The Way of all Flesh," and "Birds of a Feather."
• 1960: Chet Baker – Sextet & Quartet (Music) (In Milan, Jazzland) – includes track 4, "Line for Lyons."
• 1961: Brew Moore – Live In Europe 1961 (Sonorama) – released in 2015, includes track 2, "Apple Core."
• 1961: Charlie Parker – "Bird" Is Free (Musidisc) – includes track 1,