117-445: Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru , was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists —playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz —Mulligan was also a significant arranger working with Claude Thornhill , Miles Davis , Stan Kenton , and others. His piano-less quartet of
234-406: A Wilmington, Delaware , native of Irish descent; his mother a Philadelphia native of half-Irish and half-German descent. Gerry was the youngest of four sons with George, Phil and Don preceding him. George Mulligan's career as an engineer necessitated frequent moves through numerous cities. When Gerry was less than a year old, the family moved to Marion, Ohio , where his father accepted a job with
351-518: A "form of art music which originated in the United States through the confrontation of the Negro with European music" and arguing that it differs from European music in that jazz has a "special relationship to time defined as 'swing ' ". Jazz involves "a spontaneity and vitality of musical production in which improvisation plays a role" and contains a "sonority and manner of phrasing which mirror
468-526: A coherent tradition". Duke Ellington , one of jazz's most famous figures, said, "It's all music." Although jazz is considered difficult to define, in part because it contains many subgenres, improvisation is one of its defining elements. The centrality of improvisation is attributed to the influence of earlier forms of music such as blues , a form of folk music which arose in part from the work songs and field hollers of African-American slaves on plantations. These work songs were commonly structured around
585-473: A drum made by stretching skin over a flour-barrel. Lavish festivals with African-based dances to drums were organized on Sundays at Place Congo, or Congo Square, in New Orleans until 1843. There are historical accounts of other music and dance gatherings elsewhere in the southern United States. Robert Palmer said of percussive slave music: Usually such music was associated with annual festivals, when
702-433: A few months. When Goodman wanted him to go on a west coast tour, Krupa declined. He then joined Tommy Dorsey's band for several months and then put together his next orchestra. He performed an uncredited drum riff in a montage sequence in the (1946) Oscar winning movie ‘’ The Best Years of Our Lives ’’. As the 1940s ended, Count Basie closed his band and Woody Herman reduced his band to an octet. In 1951, Krupa cut down
819-538: A film composer, Mulligan wrote music for A Thousand Clowns (1965, 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, the title theme). In 1974, Mulligan collaborated on a musical version of Anita Loos ' play Happy Birthday . Although the creative team had great hopes for
936-709: A full-time pianist in Mitchel Forman , in 1978, and toured during the 1980s. Mulligan, like many jazz musicians of his era, occasionally recorded with strings. Dates included 1957 recordings with Vinnie Burke 's String Jazz Quartet, a 1959 orchestra album with André Previn and a 1965 album of the Gerry Mulligan Quintet and Strings. In 1974, Mulligan recorded in Italy the album Summit with Argentine tango musician Ástor Piazzolla . While in Milan for
1053-605: A half or so away. The Mulligan family next moved to Philadelphia, where Gerry attended the West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys and organized a school big band , for which he also wrote arrangements. When Mulligan was sixteen, he approached Johnny Warrington at local radio station WCAU about writing arrangements for the station's house band. Warrington was impressed and began buying Mulligan's arrangements. Mulligan dropped out of high school during his senior year to pursue work with
1170-648: A handful of live performances (a two-week engagement at the Royal Roost and two nights at the Clique Club). However over the next couple of years, Davis reformed the nonet on three occasions to record twelve pieces for release as singles by Capitol Records . They formed the Birth of the Cool 12-inch album released in 1957. Mulligan wrote and arranged three of the tunes recorded ("Rocker", "Venus de Milo", and "Jeru",
1287-410: A limited melodic range, sounding like a field holler, and the guitar accompaniment was slapped rather than strummed, like a small drum which responded in syncopated accents, functioning as another "voice". Handy and his band members were formally trained African-American musicians who had not grown up with the blues, yet he was able to adapt the blues to a larger band instrument format and arrange them in
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#17327988058391404-479: A major force in defining the standard band-drummer's kit. Modern Drummer magazine regards Krupa as "the founding father of modern drumset playing". Upon his death, The New York Times labeled Krupa a "revolutionary" known for "frenzied, flashy" drumming, with his work having generated a significant musical legacy that started "in jazz and has continued on through the rock era". The youngest of Anna (née Oslowski) and Bartłomiej Krupa's nine children, Gene Krupa
1521-460: A multi- strain ragtime march with four parts that feature recurring themes and a bass line with copious seventh chords . Its structure was the basis for many other rags, and the syncopations in the right hand, especially in the transition between the first and second strain, were novel at the time. The last four measures of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) are shown below. African-based rhythmic patterns such as tresillo and its variants,
1638-660: A popular music form. Handy wrote about his adopting of the blues: The primitive southern Negro, as he sang, was sure to bear down on the third and seventh tone of the scale, slurring between major and minor. Whether in the cotton field of the Delta or on the Levee up St. Louis way, it was always the same. Till then, however, I had never heard this slur used by a more sophisticated Negro, or by any white man. I tried to convey this effect ... by introducing flat thirds and sevenths (now called blue notes) into my song, although its prevailing key
1755-494: A regular hangout for a number of jazz musicians, working on creating a new jazz idiom. In September 1948, Miles Davis formed a nine-piece band that used arrangements by Mulligan, Evans and John Lewis . 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 . The band only played
1872-439: A repetitive call-and-response pattern, but early blues was also improvisational. Classical music performance is evaluated more by its fidelity to the musical score , with less attention given to interpretation, ornamentation, and accompaniment. The classical performer's goal is to play the composition as it was written. In contrast, jazz is often characterized by the product of interaction and collaboration, placing less value on
1989-777: A rhythm section, Mulligan decided to build on earlier experiments and perform as a pianoless quartet with Baker on trumpet, Carson Smith on bass, and Chico Hamilton on drums (later Mulligan himself would occasionally double on piano). These early live dates were recorded by Richard Bock on a portable reel-to-reel tape deck. Bock along with Roy Harte would soon after, start the Pacific Jazz label and release Mulligan's records. Mulligan's first recording sessions in Los Angeles were produced by Bock for Pacific Jazz. These three informal sessions took place in June, July, and August 1952 at
2106-492: A single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands , Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisational style), and gypsy jazz (a style that emphasized musette waltzes) were the prominent styles. Bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging "musician's music" which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed near
2223-416: A soloist is supported by a rhythm section of one or more chordal instruments (piano, guitar), double bass, and drums. The rhythm section plays chords and rhythms that outline the composition structure and complement the soloist. In avant-garde and free jazz , the separation of soloist and band is reduced, and there is license, or even a requirement, for the abandoning of chords, scales, and meters. Since
2340-456: A son, Reed Brown Mulligan. Mulligan also studied piano with Suezenne Fordham, who was a member of the inner circle of jazz players in New York. She was sought out by jazz musicians of the era to coach them to improve their piano technique. She and Mulligan also had a personal relationship from 1966 through 1972. Mulligan also performed as a soloist or sideman (often in festival settings) with
2457-411: A touring band. He contacted bandleader Tommy Tucker when Tucker was visiting Philadelphia's Earle Theatre. While Tucker did not need an additional reedman, he was looking for an arranger and Mulligan was hired at $ 100 a week to do two or three arrangements a week (including all copying). At the conclusion of Mulligan's three-month contract, Tucker told Mulligan that he should move on to another band which
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#17327988058392574-674: A variety of late-1950s jazz artists: Paul Desmond , Duke Ellington , Ben Webster , Johnny Hodges , Jimmy Witherspoon , André Previn , Billie Holiday , Marian McPartland , Louis Armstrong , Count Basie , Stan Getz , Thelonious Monk , Fletcher Henderson , Manny Albam , Quincy Jones , Kai Winding , Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck . Mulligan appeared in Art Kane 's A Great Day in Harlem portrait of 57 major jazz musicians taken in August 1958. Mulligan formed his first "Concert Jazz Band" in
2691-458: A year but decided the priesthood was not his vocation. Krupa studied with Sanford A. Moeller , and began playing drums professionally in the mid-1920s with bands in Wisconsin. In 1927, he was hired by MCA to become a member of Thelma Terry and Her Playboys, the first notable American jazz band to be led by a female musician (except all-female bands ). The Playboys were the house band at
2808-416: A young trumpeter named Chet Baker began sitting in with Mulligan. Mulligan and Baker began recording together, although they were unsatisfied with the results. Around that time, vibraphonist Red Norvo 's trio (with guitar and bass) began headlining at The Haig, thus leaving no need to keep the grand piano that had been brought in for Erroll Garner 's stay at the club. Faced with a dilemma of what to do for
2925-793: Is Here", "Quiet and Roll 'Em" with Sam Donahue , "Bolero at the Savoy", "Murdy Purdy", and "How 'Bout That Mess". Norman Granz hired Krupa and drummer Buddy Rich for his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. The two drummers performed at Carnegie Hall in September 1952 and it was issued by Verve as The Drum Battle . The two drummers faced off in a number of television broadcasts and other venues and often played similar duets with drummer Cozy Cole . Krupa and Rich recorded two studio albums together: Krupa and Rich (Verve, 1955) and Burnin' Beat (Verve, 1962). Krupa married Ethel Maguire twice:
3042-500: Is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans , Louisiana , in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues , ragtime , European harmony , African rhythmic rituals, spirituals , hymns , marches , vaudeville song, and dance music . Since the 1920s Jazz Age , it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music . Jazz
3159-529: Is a "white jazz" genre that expresses whiteness . White jazz musicians appeared in the Midwest and in other areas throughout the U.S. Papa Jack Laine , who ran the Reliance band in New Orleans in the 1910s, was called "the father of white jazz". The Original Dixieland Jazz Band , whose members were white, were the first jazz group to record, and Bix Beiderbecke was one of the most prominent jazz soloists of
3276-693: Is a fundamental rhythmic figure heard in many different slave musics of the Caribbean, as well as the Afro-Caribbean folk dances performed in New Orleans Congo Square and Gottschalk's compositions (for example "Souvenirs From Havana" (1859)). Tresillo (shown below) is the most basic and most prevalent duple-pulse rhythmic cell in sub-Saharan African music traditions and the music of the African Diaspora . Tresillo
3393-455: Is a tribute to Gene Krupa. Upon his death, The New York Times labeled Krupa a "revolutionary" known for "frenzied, flashy" drumming. The newspaper additionally stated that his work generated a significant musical legacy that started "in jazz and has continued on through the rock era." Music critics such as Charles Waring have remarked that Krupa's methods of performing, particularly his flamboyant charisma and use of solos, evolved into
3510-571: Is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Calumet City, Illinois . In the 1930s, Krupa became the first endorser of Slingerland drums. At Krupa's urging, Slingerland developed tom-toms with tuneable top and bottom heads , which immediately became important elements of virtually every drummer's setup. Krupa developed and popularized many of the cymbal techniques that became standard. His collaboration with Avedis Zildjian developed
3627-469: Is characterized by swing and blue notes , complex chords , call and response vocals , polyrhythms and improvisation . As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles , biguine , ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation . However, jazz did not begin as
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3744-493: Is heard prominently in New Orleans second line music and in other forms of popular music from that city from the turn of the 20th century to present. "By and large the simpler African rhythmic patterns survived in jazz ... because they could be adapted more readily to European rhythmic conceptions," jazz historian Gunther Schuller observed. "Some survived, others were discarded as the Europeanization progressed." In
3861-400: Is that jazz can absorb and transform diverse musical styles. By avoiding the creation of norms, jazz allows avant-garde styles to emerge. For some African Americans, jazz has drawn attention to African-American contributions to culture and history. For others, jazz is a reminder of "an oppressive and racist society and restrictions on their artistic visions". Amiri Baraka argues that there
3978-476: Is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm , a slang term dating back to 1860 meaning ' pep, energy ' . The earliest written record of the word is in a 1912 article in the Los Angeles Times in which a minor league baseball pitcher described a pitch which he called a 'jazz ball' "because it wobbles and you simply can't do anything with it". The use of the word in a musical context
4095-625: The Atlantic slave trade had brought nearly 400,000 Africans to North America. The slaves came largely from West Africa and the greater Congo River basin and brought strong musical traditions with them. The African traditions primarily use a single-line melody and call-and-response pattern, and the rhythms have a counter-metric structure and reflect African speech patterns. An 1885 account says that they were making strange music (Creole) on an equally strange variety of 'instruments'—washboards, washtubs, jugs, boxes beaten with sticks or bones and
4212-840: The Israel Philharmonic in Tel Aviv with Zubin Mehta conducting. Mulligan's orchestral appearances at the time also included the Houston Symphony , Stockholm Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic . In 1988, Mulligan's Octet for Sea Cliff was premiered. A chamber work, it was commissioned by the Sea Cliff Chamber Players. In 1991, the Concordia Orchestra premiered Momo's Clock , a work for orchestra (without saxophone solo) that
4329-686: The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1978, Krupa became the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. The 1937 recording of Louis Prima 's " Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) " combined with Fats Waller 's "Christopher Columbus" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Krupa on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982. Apollo 440 's 1996 hit single " Krupa "
4446-471: The swing era of the 1920s–40s, big bands relied more on arrangements which were written or learned by ear and memorized. Soloists improvised within these arrangements. In the bebop era of the 1940s, big bands gave way to small groups and minimal arrangements in which the melody was stated briefly at the beginning and most of the piece was improvised. Modal jazz abandoned chord progressions to allow musicians to improvise even more. In many forms of jazz,
4563-414: The "Gerry Mulligan / Dave Brubeck Quartet" through 1973. After that Mulligan and Brubeck worked together sporadically until the final year of Mulligan's life. In 1971, Mulligan created his most significant work for big band in over a decade, for the album The Age of Steam . At various times in the 1970s, he performed with Charles Mingus . The Concert Jazz Band was "reformed" with younger players, including
4680-948: The 1920s. The Chicago Style was developed by white musicians such as Eddie Condon , Bud Freeman , Jimmy McPartland , and Dave Tough . Others from Chicago such as Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa became leading members of swing during the 1930s. Many bands included both Black and white musicians. These musicians helped change attitudes toward race in the U.S. Female jazz performers and composers have contributed to jazz throughout its history. Although Betty Carter , Ella Fitzgerald , Adelaide Hall , Billie Holiday , Peggy Lee , Abbey Lincoln , Anita O'Day , Dinah Washington , and Ethel Waters were recognized for their vocal talent, less familiar were bandleaders, composers, and instrumentalists such as pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong , trumpeter Valaida Snow , and songwriters Irene Higginbotham and Dorothy Fields . Women began playing instruments in jazz in
4797-440: The 1941 film Ball of Fire , in which he and his band performed an extended version of the hit " Drum Boogie " (composed by Krupa and Roy Eldridge ), sung by Martha Tilton and lip-synced by Barbara Stanwyck . In 1943, Krupa was arrested on a falsified marijuana (cannabis) drug charge; this resulted in a short jail sentence, and the breakup of his orchestra. After Krupa broke up his orchestra he returned to Goodman's band for
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4914-451: The 1950s, many women jazz instrumentalists were prominent, some sustaining long careers. Some of the most distinctive improvisers, composers, and bandleaders in jazz have been women. Trombonist Melba Liston is acknowledged as the first female horn player to work in major bands and to make a real impact on jazz, not only as a musician but also as a respected composer and arranger, particularly through her collaborations with Randy Weston from
5031-509: The Black middle-class. Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre, which originated in African-American communities of primarily the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century from their spirituals , work songs , field hollers , shouts and chants and rhymed simple narrative ballads . The African use of pentatonic scales contributed to
5148-464: The Caribbean. African-based rhythmic patterns were retained in the United States in large part through "body rhythms" such as stomping, clapping, and patting juba dancing . In the opinion of jazz historian Ernest Borneman , what preceded New Orleans jazz before 1890 was "Afro-Latin music", similar to what was played in the Caribbean at the time. A three-stroke pattern known in Cuban music as tresillo
5265-639: The Cool , and a nonet which included Lewis and Barber from the original Davis band. Mulligan appeared at the Brecon Jazz Festival in 1991. Mulligan's final recording was a quartet album (with guests), Dragonfly , recorded in the summer of 1995 and released on the Telarc label. Mulligan gave his final performance on the 13th Annual Floating Jazz Festival, Caribbean Cruise, November 9, 1995. Mulligan died in Darien, Connecticut , on January 20, 1996, at
5382-622: The Davis nonet between 1949 and 1951, Mulligan also regularly performed with and arranged for trombonist Kai Winding . Mulligan's composition "Elevation" and his arrangement of " Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea " were recorded by Mulligan's old boss, Elliot Lawrence. It brought Mulligan additional recognition. Mulligan also arranged for and recorded with bands led by Georgie Auld and Chubby Jackson . In September 1951, Mulligan recorded
5499-703: The Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and toured throughout the eastern and central United States. Krupa made his first recordings in 1927 with a band under the leadership of Red McKenzie and guitarist Eddie Condon . Along with other recordings by musicians from the Chicago jazz scene, such as Bix Beiderbecke , these recordings are examples of Chicago style jazz. Krupa's influences during this time included Father Ildefonse Rapp and Roy Knapp (both teachers of his), and drummers Tubby Hall , Zutty Singleton and Baby Dodds . Press rolls (dragging one stick across
5616-551: The Hollywood Hills home studio of recording engineer Phil Turetsky. At these sessions, Mulligan, Chet Baker, and others recorded the material that was released as Pacific Jazz PJ LP-1 and later on PJ-8. Baker's melodic style fit well with Mulligan's, leading them to create improvised contrapuntal textures free from the rigid confines of a piano-enforced chordal structure. While novel at the time in sound and style, this ethos of contrapuntal group improvisation hearkened back to
5733-636: The Marion Power Shovel Company. With the demands of a large home and four young boys to raise, Mulligan's mother hired an African American nanny named Lily Rose, who became especially fond of the youngest Mulligan. As he became older, Mulligan began spending time at Rose's house and was especially amused by Rose's player piano , which Mulligan later recalled as having rolls by numerous players, including Fats Waller . Black musicians sometimes came through town, and because many motels would not take them, they often had to stay at homes within
5850-611: The Moon ", quoting Charlie Parker 's " Ornithology " as a countermelody . Mulligan next began arranging for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, occasionally sitting in as a member of the reed section. Thornhill's arranging staff included Gil Evans , whom Mulligan had met while working with the Krupa band. Mulligan eventually began living with Evans; this was at the time that Evans' apartment on West 55th Street became
5967-502: The Showboat Lounge in northwest Washington, D.C. With peer Cozy Cole, Gene started a music school in 1954 that carried on into the 1960s. Some of the school's students included Peter Criss of KISS and Jerry Nolan of The New York Dolls. Doug Clifford of Creedence Clearwater Revival cited Krupa as an inspiration. Krupa was still busy in the early 1970s until shortly before his death. That included several reunion concerts of
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#17327988058396084-665: The Starlight Roof at the famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel . He entertained audiences with a light elegant musical style which remained popular with audiences for nearly three decades from the 1930s until the late 1950s. Jazz originated in the late-19th to early-20th century. It developed out of many forms of music, including blues , ragtime , European harmony , African rhythmic rituals, spirituals , hymns , marches , vaudeville song, and dance music . It also incorporated interpretations of American and European classical music, entwined with African and slave folk songs and
6201-594: The Thelma Terry band in 1928. In December 1934, he joined Benny Goodman 's band, where his drum work made him a national celebrity. His tom-tom interludes on the hit " Sing, Sing, Sing " were the first extended drum solos to be recorded commercially. But conflict with Goodman prompted him to leave the group and form his own orchestra shortly after the Carnegie Hall concert in January 1938. He appeared in
6318-696: The Wilderness with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Symphony . In the 1970s and 1980s, Mulligan worked to build and promote a repertoire of baritone saxophone music for orchestra. In 1973, Mulligan commissioned composer Frank Proto to write a Saxophone Concerto that was premiered with the Cincinnati Symphony. In 1977, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation commissioned Harry Freedman to write
6435-608: The age of 68, following complications from knee surgery. His widow Franca–to whom he had been married since 1982–said he had also been suffering from liver cancer. Upon Mulligan's death, his library and numerous personal effects (including a gold-plated Conn baritone saxophone) were given to the Library of Congress . 'The Gerry Mulligan Collection' is open to registered public researchers in the library's Performing Arts Research Center. The library placed Mulligan's saxophone on permanent exhibit in early 2009. Mulligan's first film appearance
6552-486: The black community. The young Mulligan occasionally met such musicians staying at Rose's home. The family's moves continued with stops in South Jersey (where Mulligan lived with his maternal grandmother), Chicago , and Kalamazoo, Michigan , where Mulligan lived for three years and attended Catholic school . When the school moved into a new building and established music courses, Mulligan decided to play clarinet in
6669-552: The blues are undocumented, though they can be seen as the secular counterpart of the spirituals. However, as Gerhard Kubik points out, whereas the spirituals are homophonic , rural blues and early jazz "was largely based on concepts of heterophony ". During the early 19th century an increasing number of black musicians learned to play European instruments, particularly the violin, which they used to parody European dance music in their own cakewalk dances. In turn, European American minstrel show performers in blackface popularized
6786-473: The contribution of the composer, if there is one, and more on the performer. The jazz performer interprets a tune in individual ways, never playing the same composition twice. Depending on the performer's mood, experience, and interaction with band members or audience members, the performer may change melodies, harmonies, and time signatures. In early Dixieland , a.k.a. New Orleans jazz, performers took turns playing melodies and improvising countermelodies . In
6903-779: 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 , with whom he recorded an album, Holliday With Mulligan . Holliday died of cancer in 1965. After Holliday’s death, Mulligan met actress Sandy Dennis . According to her manager, Bill Treusch, Dennis and Mulligan never officially married, but were together from 1965 to 1976. In 1974, Mulligan met Countess Franca Rota Borghini Baldovinetti, through their mutual friend Astor Piazzolla , although they didn’t marry until 1982. They remained together until his death. With Dave Brubeck With Charles Mingus With Billy Taylor With Others Jazz Jazz
7020-555: The development of blue notes in blues and jazz. As Kubik explains: Many of the rural blues of the Deep South are stylistically an extension and merger of basically two broad accompanied song-style traditions in the west central Sudanic belt: W. C. Handy became interested in folk blues of the Deep South while traveling through the Mississippi Delta. In this folk blues form, the singer would improvise freely within
7137-509: The early 1920s, drawing particular recognition on piano. When male jazz musicians were drafted during World War II, many all-female bands replaced them. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm , which was founded in 1937, was a popular band that became the first all-female integrated band in the U.S. and the first to travel with the USO , touring Europe in 1945. Women were members of the big bands of Woody Herman and Gerald Wilson . Beginning in
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#17327988058397254-465: The early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the best cool jazz ensembles. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments . Several of his compositions including " Walkin' Shoes " and "Five Brothers", have become standards. Gerry Mulligan was born in Queens Village, Queens , New York the son of George and Louise Mulligan. His father was
7371-480: The education of freed African Americans. Although strict segregation limited employment opportunities for most blacks, many were able to find work in entertainment. Black musicians were able to provide entertainment in dances, minstrel shows , and in vaudeville , during which time many marching bands were formed. Black pianists played in bars, clubs, and brothels, as ragtime developed. Ragtime appeared as sheet music, popularized by African-American musicians such as
7488-593: The emergence of bebop, forms of jazz that are commercially oriented or influenced by popular music have been criticized. According to Bruce Johnson, there has always been a "tension between jazz as a commercial music and an art form". Regarding the Dixieland jazz revival of the 1940s, Black musicians rejected it as being shallow nostalgia entertainment for white audiences. On the other hand, traditional jazz enthusiasts have dismissed bebop, free jazz, and jazz fusion as forms of debasement and betrayal. An alternative view
7605-473: The end of 1964, eventually recording five albums for Verve Records . Mulligan resumed work with small groups in 1962 and appeared with other groups sporadically (notably in festival situations). Mulligan continued to work intermittently in small group settings until the end of his life, although performing dates started to become more infrequent during the mid 1960s. After Dave Brubeck 's quartet broke up in 1967, Mulligan began appearing regularly with Brubeck as
7722-525: The end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, linear melodic lines. The mid-1950s saw the emergence of hard bop , which introduced influences from rhythm and blues , gospel , and blues to small groups and particularly to saxophone and piano. Modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode , or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation, as did free jazz , which explored playing without regular meter, beat and formal structures. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in
7839-556: The entertainer Ernest Hogan , whose hit songs appeared in 1895. Two years later, Vess Ossman recorded a medley of these songs as a banjo solo known as "Rag Time Medley". Also in 1897, the white composer William Krell published his " Mississippi Rag " as the first written piano instrumental ragtime piece, and Tom Turpin published his "Harlem Rag", the first rag published by an African-American. Classically trained pianist Scott Joplin produced his " Original Rags " in 1898 and, in 1899, had an international hit with " Maple Leaf Rag ",
7956-623: The first album under his own name, Mulligan Plays Mulligan . By that point, he had mastered a melodic and linear playing style, inspired by Lester Young , that he would retain for the rest of his career. In early 1952, seeking better employment opportunities, Mulligan headed west to Los Angeles with his girlfriend, pianist Gail Madden. Through an acquaintance with arranger Bob Graettinger , Mulligan started writing arrangements for Stan Kenton 's Orchestra. While most of Mulligan's work for Kenton were somewhat pedestrian arrangements, that Kenton needed to fill out money-making dance performances, Mulligan
8073-538: The first marriage lasted from 1934 to 1942, the second from 1946 to her death in 1955. He remarried in 1959 to Patty Bowler and they were divorced within ten years. In the early 1970s, Krupa's house in Yonkers, New York , was damaged by fire. He continued to live in the parts of the house that were habitable. In 1973, Krupa died in Yonkers at the age 64 from heart failure, though he also had leukemia and emphysema. He
8190-415: The first written music which was rhythmically based on an African motif (1803). From the perspective of African-American music, the "habanera rhythm" (also known as "congo"), "tango-congo", or tango . can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat . The habanera was the first of many Cuban music genres which enjoyed periods of popularity in the United States and reinforced and inspired
8307-906: The formative days of jazz. Despite their very different backgrounds–Mulligan, a classically trained New Yorker, and Baker, from Oklahoma and a much more instinctive player–they had an almost psychic rapport and Mulligan later remarked that: "I had never experienced anything like that before and not really since." Their dates at the Haig became sell-outs and the recordings they made in late 1952 became major sellers, that led to significant acclaim for Mulligan and Baker. The recordings included singles such as "Motel" (1953) labelled as 'The Gerry Mulligan Quartet Featuring Chet Baker'. The 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. Both Mulligan and Baker had, like many of their peers, become heroin addicts. However, while Mulligan
8424-532: The habanera rhythm and cinquillo , are heard in the ragtime compositions of Joplin and Turpin. Joplin's " Solace " (1909) is generally considered to be in the habanera genre: both of the pianist's hands play in a syncopated fashion, completely abandoning any sense of a march rhythm. Ned Sublette postulates that the tresillo/habanera rhythm "found its way into ragtime and the cakewalk," whilst Roberts suggests that "the habanera influence may have been part of what freed black music from ragtime's European bass". In
8541-512: The individuality of the performing jazz musician". A broader definition that encompasses different eras of jazz has been proposed by Travis Jackson: "it is music that includes qualities such as swing, improvising, group interaction, developing an 'individual voice', and being open to different musical possibilities". Krin Gibbard argued that "jazz is a construct" which designates "a number of musics with enough in common to be understood as part of
8658-424: The influences of West African culture. Its composition and style have changed many times throughout the years with each performer's personal interpretation and improvisation, which is also one of the greatest appeals of the genre. By the 18th century, slaves in the New Orleans area gathered socially at a special market, in an area which later became known as Congo Square , famous for its African dances. By 1866,
8775-460: The instruments of jazz: brass, drums, and reeds tuned in the European 12-tone scale. Small bands contained a combination of self-taught and formally educated musicians, many from the funeral procession tradition. These bands traveled in black communities in the deep south. Beginning in 1914, Louisiana Creole and African-American musicians played in vaudeville shows which carried jazz to cities in
8892-507: The last named after himself), and arranged a further three ("Deception", "Godchild", and " Darn That Dream "). He was also one of only four musicians who played on all the recordings, with Davis, Konitz and Barber. Despite the chilly reception by audiences of 1949, the Davis nine-piece has been judged by history as one of the most influential groups in jazz history, creating a sound that, despite its East Coast origins, became known as West Coast Jazz . During his period of occasional work with
9009-578: The late 1950s into the 1990s. Jewish Americans played a significant role in jazz. As jazz spread, it developed to encompass many different cultures, and the work of Jewish composers in Tin Pan Alley helped shape the many different sounds that jazz came to incorporate. Jewish Americans were able to thrive in Jazz because of the probationary whiteness that they were allotted at the time. George Bornstein wrote that African Americans were sympathetic to
9126-455: The late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock music 's rhythms, electric instruments, and highly amplified stage sound. In the early 1980s, a commercial form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful, garnering significant radio airplay. Other styles and genres abound in the 21st century, such as Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz . The origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history
9243-900: The many top players he employed, such as George Brunies , Sharkey Bonano , and future members of the Original Dixieland Jass Band . During the early 1900s, jazz was mostly performed in African-American and mulatto communities due to segregation laws. Storyville brought jazz to a wider audience through tourists who visited the port city of New Orleans. Many jazz musicians from African-American communities were hired to perform in bars and brothels. These included Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton in addition to those from other communities, such as Lorenzo Tio and Alcide Nunez . Louis Armstrong started his career in Storyville and found success in Chicago. Storyville
9360-405: The modern hi-hat cymbals and standardized the names and uses of the ride cymbal , crash cymbal and splash cymbal . He is also credited with helping to formulate the modern drum set , being one of the first jazz drummers to use a bass drum in a recording session (December 1927). One of his bass drums, a Slingerland 14×26, inscribed with Benny Goodman 's and Krupa's initials, is preserved at
9477-498: The music from the seminal 1949 Birth of the Cool album. Davis had recently performed some of his Gil Evans collaborations with Quincy Jones at the Montreux Jazz Festival and was enthusiastic. However, Davis died in September and Mulligan continued the recording project and tour with Wallace Roney and Art Farmer substituting for Davis. Re-Birth of the Cool (released in 1992) featured the charts from Birth of
9594-697: The music internationally, combining syncopation with European harmonic accompaniment. In the mid-1800s the white New Orleans composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk adapted slave rhythms and melodies from Cuba and other Caribbean islands into piano salon music. New Orleans was the main nexus between the Afro-Caribbean and African American cultures. The Black Codes outlawed drumming by slaves, which meant that African drumming traditions were not preserved in North America, unlike in Cuba, Haiti, and elsewhere in
9711-583: The music of New Orleans with the music of Cuba, Wynton Marsalis observes that tresillo is the New Orleans "clavé", a Spanish word meaning "code" or "key", as in the key to a puzzle, or mystery. Although the pattern is only half a clave , Marsalis makes the point that the single-celled figure is the guide-pattern of New Orleans music. Jelly Roll Morton called the rhythmic figure the Spanish tinge and considered it an essential ingredient of jazz. The abolition of slavery in 1865 led to new opportunities for
9828-467: The northeastern United States, a "hot" style of playing ragtime had developed, notably James Reese Europe 's symphonic Clef Club orchestra in New York City, which played a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in 1912. The Baltimore rag style of Eubie Blake influenced James P. Johnson 's development of stride piano playing, in which the right hand plays the melody, while the left hand provides
9945-618: The northern and western parts of the U.S. Jazz became international in 1914, when the Creole Band with cornettist Freddie Keppard performed the first ever jazz concert outside the United States, at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre in Winnipeg , Canada. In New Orleans, a white bandleader named Papa Jack Laine integrated blacks and whites in his marching band. He was known as "the father of white jazz" because of
10062-734: The original Benny Goodman Quartette. On April 17, 1973, the Gene Krupa Quartet, composed of Eddie Shu (tenor and clarinet), John Bunch (piano), Nabil Totah (Bass) and Krupa (drums), recorded a live performance at the New School featuring the Louis Prima composition "Sing, Sing, Sing". His compositions which he wrote or co-wrote included "Some Like It Hot" in 1939, " Drum Boogie ", "Boogie Blues", his theme song "Apurksody", "Ball of Fire", "Disc Jockey Jump" with Gerry Mulligan , "Wire Brush Stomp", "Hippdeebip", "Krupa's Wail", "Swing
10179-500: The period 1820–1850. Some of the earliest [Mississippi] Delta settlers came from the vicinity of New Orleans, where drumming was never actively discouraged for very long and homemade drums were used to accompany public dancing until the outbreak of the Civil War. Another influence came from the harmonic style of hymns of the church, which black slaves had learned and incorporated into their own music as spirituals . The origins of
10296-494: The plight of the Jewish American and vice versa. As disenfranchised minorities themselves, Jewish composers of popular music saw themselves as natural allies with African Americans. The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson is one example of how Jewish Americans were able to bring jazz, music that African Americans developed, into popular culture. Benny Goodman was a vital Jewish American to the progression of Jazz. Goodman
10413-459: The post-Civil War period (after 1865), African Americans were able to obtain surplus military bass drums, snare drums and fifes, and an original African-American drum and fife music emerged, featuring tresillo and related syncopated rhythmic figures. This was a drumming tradition that was distinct from its Caribbean counterparts, expressing a uniquely African-American sensibility. "The snare and bass drummers played syncopated cross-rhythms ," observed
10530-676: The pre-jazz era and contributed to the codification of jazz through the publication of some of the first jazz sheet music. The music of New Orleans , Louisiana had a profound effect on the creation of early jazz. In New Orleans, slaves could practice elements of their culture such as voodoo and playing drums. Many early jazz musicians played in the bars and brothels of the red-light district around Basin Street called Storyville . In addition to dance bands, there were marching bands which played at lavish funerals (later called jazz funerals ). The instruments used by marching bands and dance bands became
10647-631: The quartet format with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer replacing Baker, although Mulligan and Brookmeyer both occasionally played piano. The quartet played at the third Paris Jazz Fair in 1954, with Red Mitchell on bass and Frank Isola on drums. 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 . In 1957, Mulligan and his wife, Arlyne Brown Mulligan (daughter of composer Lew Brown ), had
10764-492: The recording sessions, Mulligan met his future wife, Countess Franca Rota Borghini Baldovinetti, a freelance photojournalist and reporter. In 1975, Mulligan recorded an album with Italian pianist / composer Enrico Intra , bassist/arranger Pino Presti , flutist Giancarlo Barigozzi, and drummer Tullio De Piscopo . Mulligan's more classical work with orchestras began in May 1970 with a performance of Dave Brubeck's oratorio, The Light in
10881-410: The rhythm and bassline. In Ohio and elsewhere in the mid-west the major influence was ragtime, until about 1919. Around 1912, when the four-string banjo and saxophone came in, musicians began to improvise the melody line, but the harmony and rhythm remained unchanged. A contemporary account states that blues could only be heard in jazz in the gut-bucket cabarets, which were generally looked down upon by
10998-472: The saxophone concerto Celebration , which was performed by Mulligan with the CBC Symphony. In 1982, Zubin Mehta invited Mulligan to play soprano saxophone in a New York Philharmonic performance of Ravel 's Boléro . In 1984, Mulligan commissioned Harry Freedman to write The Sax Chronicles , which was an arrangement of some of Mulligan's melodies in pastiche styles. In April of that year, Mulligan
11115-766: The school's nascent orchestra. 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. When Gerry Mulligan was 14, his family moved to Detroit and then to Reading, Pennsylvania . While in Reading, Mulligan began studying clarinet with dance-band musician Sammy Correnti, who also encouraged Mulligan's interest in arranging. Mulligan also began playing saxophone professionally in dance bands in Philadelphia , an hour and
11232-478: The size of his band to a ten-piece for a short while and from 1952 on he led trios, then quartets, often with Charlie Ventura then Eddie Shu on tenor sax, clarinet, and harmonica. He appeared regularly in the Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. In the 1950s, Krupa returned to Hollywood to appear in the films The Glenn Miller Story and The Benny Goodman Story . In 1959, the movie biography The Gene Krupa Story
11349-408: The snare head while keeping the beat with the other stick) were a fairly common technique in the early stages of his development. There were many other drummers ( Ray Bauduc , Chick Webb , George Wettling , Dave Tough ) who influenced his approach to drumming and other instrumentalists and composers such as Frederick Delius who influenced his approach to music. Krupa appeared on six recordings by
11466-885: The spring of 1960. Partly an attempt to revisit big band music in a smaller setting, the band varied in size and personnel, with the core group being six brass, five reeds (including Mulligan) and a pianoless two-piece rhythm section (though as in the earlier quartets Mulligan or Brookmeyer sometimes doubled on piano). The membership included (at various times, among others): trumpeters Conte Candoli , Nick Travis , Clark Terry , Don Ferrara, Al Derisi, Thad Jones and Doc Severinsen ; saxophonists Zoot Sims , Jim Reider, Gene Allen , Bobby Donovan, Phil Woods , and Gene Quill ; trombonists Willie Dennis ; Alan Raph and Bob Brookmeyer ; drummers Mel Lewis and Gus Johnson ; and bassists Buddy Clark and Bill Crow . The band also recorded an album of songs sung by Mulligan's girlfriend Judy Holliday in 1961. The band toured and recorded extensively through
11583-500: The twice-daily ferry between both cities to perform, and the habanera quickly took root in the musically fertile Crescent City. John Storm Roberts states that the musical genre habanera "reached the U.S. twenty years before the first rag was published." For the more than quarter-century in which the cakewalk , ragtime , and proto-jazz were forming and developing, the habanera was a consistent part of African-American popular music. Habaneras were widely available as sheet music and were
11700-575: The use of tresillo-based rhythms in African-American music. New Orleans native Louis Moreau Gottschalk 's piano piece "Ojos Criollos (Danse Cubaine)" (1860) was influenced by the composer's studies in Cuba: the habanera rhythm is clearly heard in the left hand. In Gottschalk's symphonic work "A Night in the Tropics" (1859), the tresillo variant cinquillo appears extensively. The figure was later used by Scott Joplin and other ragtime composers. Comparing
11817-581: The work, it never made it past a workshop production at the University of Alabama. In 1978, Mulligan wrote incidental music for Dale Wasserman 's Broadway play Play with Fire . In 1995, the Hal Leonard Corporation released the video tape The Gerry Mulligan Workshop – A Master Class on Jazz and Its Legendary Players . Mulligan married Jeffie Lee Boyd in 1953, but the marriage was annulled. Later that same year he married Arlyne Brown,
11934-498: The writer Robert Palmer, speculating that "this tradition must have dated back to the latter half of the nineteenth century, and it could have not have developed in the first place if there hadn't been a reservoir of polyrhythmic sophistication in the culture it nurtured." African-American music began incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythmic motifs in the 19th century when the habanera (Cuban contradanza ) gained international popularity. Musicians from Havana and New Orleans would take
12051-500: The year's crop was harvested and several days were set aside for celebration. As late as 1861, a traveler in North Carolina saw dancers dressed in costumes that included horned headdresses and cow tails and heard music provided by a sheepskin-covered "gumbo box", apparently a frame drum; triangles and jawbones furnished the auxiliary percussion. There are quite a few [accounts] from the southeastern states and Louisiana dating from
12168-422: Was a little less "tame". Mulligan went back to Philadelphia and began writing for Elliot Lawrence , a pianist and composer who had taken over for Warrington as the band leader at WCAU. Mulligan moved to New York City in January 1946 and joined the arranging staff on Gene Krupa 's bebop -tinged band. Arrangements of Mulligan's work with Krupa include "Birdhouse", "Disc Jockey Jump" and an arrangement of " How High
12285-821: Was a soloist with the New American Orchestra in Los Angeles for the premiere of Patrick Williams ' Spring Wings . In June 1984, Mulligan completed and performed his first orchestral commission, Entente for Baritone Saxophone and Orchestra , with the Filarmonia Venetia . In October, Mulligan performed Entente and The Sax Chronicles with the London Symphony Orchestra . In 1987, Mulligan adapted K-4 Pacific (from his 1971 Age of Steam big band recording) for quartet with orchestra and performed it beside Entente with
12402-532: Was able to throw in some more substantial original works along the way. His compositions "Walking Shoes" and "Young Blood", stand out as embodiments of the contrapuntal style that became Mulligan's signature. While arranging for Kenton, Mulligan began performing on off-nights at The Haig , a small jazz club on Wilshire Boulevard at Kenmore Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles . During the Monday night jam sessions,
12519-494: Was an American jazz drummer , bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman 's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, Sing " elevated the role of the drummer from that of an accompanist to that of an important solo voice in the band. In collaboration with the Slingerland drum- and Zildjian cymbal-manufacturers, he became
12636-534: Was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Bartłomiej was an immigrant from Poland born in the village of Łęki Górne , southeastern Poland. Anna was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania , and was also of Polish descent. His parents were Roman Catholics who groomed him for the priesthood. He spent his grammar school days at parochial schools . He attended James H. Bowen High School on Chicago's southeast side. After graduation, he attended Saint Joseph's College for
12753-497: Was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune . Its first documented use in a musical context in New Orleans was in a November 14, 1916, Times-Picayune article about "jas bands". In an interview with National Public Radio , musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying: "When Broadway picked it up, they called it 'J-A-Z-Z'. It wasn't called that. It
12870-684: Was in prison, Baker transformed his lyrical trumpet style, gentle tenor voice and matinee-idol looks into independent stardom. Thus, when upon his release Mulligan attempted to rehire Baker, the trumpeter declined the offer for financial reasons. They did briefly reunite at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival and would occasionally get together for performances and recordings up through a 1974 performance at Carnegie Hall . 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. Mulligan continued
12987-586: Was inspired by a book by German author Michael Ende . Throughout Mulligan's orchestral work and until the end of his life, Mulligan maintained an active career performing and recording jazz – usually with a quartet that included a piano. In June 1988, Mulligan was invited to be the first Composer-in-Residence at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival and was commissioned to write a work, which he titled The Flying Scotsman . In 1991, Mulligan contacted Miles Davis about revisiting
13104-433: Was major ... , and I carried this device into my melody as well. The publication of his " Memphis Blues " sheet music in 1912 introduced the 12-bar blues to the world (although Gunther Schuller argues that it is not really a blues, but "more like a cakewalk"). This composition, as well as his later " St. Louis Blues " and others, included the habanera rhythm, and would become jazz standards . Handy's music career began in
13221-640: Was probably with Krupa's orchestra playing alto saxophone in the RKO short film Follow That Music (1946). Mulligan had small roles in the films I Want to Live! (1958), as a jazz combo member; Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960), featuring his performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; The Rat Race (1960), in which he appears as a tenor saxophonist instead of his usual instrument; The Subterraneans (1960) and Bells Are Ringing (also 1960) with his then partner, Judy Holliday . Mulligan also performed numerous times on television programmes during his career. As
13338-586: Was released; Sal Mineo portrayed Krupa, and the film included cameos by Anita O'Day and Red Nichols . During the 1950s and 1960s, Krupa often played at the Metropole near Times Square in Manhattan and by 1956 his recordings were showcased on national radio networks by Ben Selvin within the RCA Thesaurus transcriptions library. He continued to perform in famous clubs in the 1960s, including
13455-452: Was shut down by the U.S. government in 1917. Cornetist Buddy Bolden played in New Orleans from 1895 to 1906. No recordings by him exist. His band is credited with creating the big four: the first syncopated bass drum pattern to deviate from the standard on-the-beat march. As the example below shows, the second half of the big four pattern is the habanera rhythm. Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973)
13572-651: Was spelled 'J-A-S-S'. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, you wouldn't say it in front of ladies." The American Dialect Society named it the Word of the 20th Century . Jazz is difficult to define because it encompasses a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years, from ragtime to rock -infused fusion . Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, such as European music history or African music. But critic Joachim-Ernst Berendt argues that its terms of reference and its definition should be broader, defining jazz as
13689-474: Was the leader of a racially integrated band named King of Swing. His jazz concert in the Carnegie Hall in 1938 was the first ever to be played there. The concert was described by Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history". Shep Fields also helped to popularize "Sweet" Jazz music through his appearances and Big band remote broadcasts from such landmark venues as Chicago's Palmer House , Broadway's Paramount Theater and
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