Jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and arranger Gerry Mulligan was born on April 6, 1927 in Queens, New York. His father’s engineer job led to the band moving quite frequently. While attending high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he founded a school big band and wrote the musical arrangements. At the age of 16, he was approached by a local radio station to write arrangements for their house band. This led to him dropping out of school and pursuing a career as a musician. After a few high-profile gigs, he returned to New York and, in 1948, he was recruited into Miles Davis’ nine-piece band. While the band performed and recorded infrequently, the tracks were compiled on the Miles Davis album Birth of the Cool. In 1950, he released the album Mulligan Plays Mulligan, his first album as a leader. Relocating to Los Angeles, California in 1952, Gerry Mulligan began writing arrangements for Stan Kenton. During his spare time, he began performing at a small jazz club called The Haig. A young trumpeter by the name of Chet Baker began sitting in with Gerry Mulligan, inspiring him to form a piano-less quartet. Recruiting bassist Bob Whitlock and drummer Chico Hamilton, the Gerry Mulligan quartet became the talk of the town. They released their self-titled debut 10” in 1952. They then recorded a collaboration album with saxophonist Lee Konitz on the album Lee Konitz Plays with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, released in 1953. Another 10” self-titled release of quartet recordings was issued in 1953, making it a pretty busy first year for the band. However, Mulligan was arrested on drug charges later in the year and spent six months in jail, bringing the early quartet to an end. By the time Gerry Mulligan was released from jail and ready to play with his band again, Chet Baker had already built an audience of his own and was unable to rejoin the quartet. With a fluid line-up, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet continued to record and tour throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s. Gerry Mulligan revived the name of the quartet on occasion but had more success on his own and his collaborations with other artists including Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and many more. Gerry Mulligan died on January 10, 1996 after suffering complications following routine surgery.
