Gerry Mulligan with Stan Getz

[Shrdlu]

This 1957 session is one that I have known about for years, but never heard until a few days ago.

It's a really good session, with plenty of the counterpoint that Gerry always played with the other horn.

One thing that had always made me want to hear this album was the fact that Gerry and Stan swapped horns on three tracks. This kind of thing can be a session gimmick, a spur of the moment idea from the producer, but it really works here.

It's really no surprise that Gerry was great on tenor, given that he also played the clarinet and alto well. He's very convincing. An Amazon reviewer said that his intonation was bad, but I sure didn't notice. The big revelation is how well Stan played the baritone! He had a lovely sound, and played it as if it were a regular thing. It is further evidence of what a fine musician he was. I guess he must have played the larger horn a few times when he was with the big bands - maybe to fill in when the regular baritone player was absent.

I've heard it said that this session didn't gel, but I think they play very well together, with excellent interaction. It's not as if they were strangers to each other. They played together, with fine results, in about 1954, and recorded together for Verve earlier in 1957, as well as on this date.

I was interested to hear Stan play the opening phrase from "Sister Sadie" at one point. I don't know when Horace Silver actually composed that, but Horace's recording of it came later - about 1959. Horace used to play with Stan, and either one could have picked up that lick from the other. Or, maybe it just came out naturally at this session, and it's just a coincidence.

[Shrdlu]

Aha, I just spotted this session:

"Stan Getz Five Brothers"

Al Cohn, Allen Eager, Brew Moore, Zoot Sims (ts), Stan Getz (ts, bars) ,Walter Bishop Jr. (p), Gene Ramey (b), Charlie Perry (d), Gerry Mulligan (arr).

NYC, April 8, 1949

[BillF]

This 1957 session is one that I have known about for years, but never heard until a few days ago.

It's a really good session, with plenty of the counterpoint that Gerry always played with the other horn.

One thing that had always made me want to hear this album was the fact that Gerry and Stan swapped horns on three tracks. This kind of thing can be a session gimmick, a spur of the moment idea from the producer, but it really works here.

It's really no surprise that Gerry was great on tenor, given that he also played the clarinet and alto well. He's very convincing. An Amazon reviewer said that his intonation was bad, but I sure didn't notice. The big revelation is how well Stan played the baritone! He had a lovely sound, and played it as if it were a regular thing. It is further evidence of what a fine musician he was. I guess he must have played the larger horn a few times when he was with the big bands - maybe to fill in when the regular baritone player was absent.

I've heard it said that this session didn't gel, but I think they play very well together, with excellent interaction. It's not as if they were strangers to each other. They played together, with fine results, in about 1954, and recorded together for Verve earlier in 1957, as well as on this date.

I was interested to hear Stan play the opening phrase from "Sister Sadie" at one point. I don't know when Horace Silver actually composed that, but Horace's recording of it came later - about 1959. Horace used to play with Stan, and either one could have picked up that lick from the other. Or, maybe it just came out naturally at this session, and it's just a coincidence.

Further evidence of the Getz/Mulligan affinity can be heard on Together for the First Time (Fresh Sound), where Stan subs for Gerry in the classic Mulligan Quartet at the Haig. He fits perfectly with Chet Baker, Carson Smith and Larry Bunker, adopting a very similar role to that of the absent leader. Mind you, as he sticks to tenor, I did miss the wide trumpet/baritone range which normally distinguished the quartet.

[fasstrack]

It's really no surprise that Gerry was great on tenor, given that he also played the clarinet and alto well.

You guys should check out a news magazine show from the early 60s, hosted by Charles Kurault, called Eyewitness. They did a piece on Bossa Nova and at the end Gerry was playing clarinet behind A.C. Jobim. on One Note Samba. He kept putting himself down b/c the phrasing of Brazilian is very subtly syncopated and hard for American musicians to get. Jobim turned around at one point and said "You almost got it that time, Gerry".

[fasstrack]

I did miss the wide trumpet/baritone range which normally distinguished the quartet.

It wasn't just the instrumentation, though that was definitely part of the charm and appeal. A lot of that sound had to do with Gerry's writing: making the harmony very clear with counterpoint and picking notes in the respective ranges that would outline it.

[Shrdlu]

This is all very interesting! I'm sure glad I started this thread.

I'd love to hear that session with Gerry on clarinet with Tom Jobim! (By the way, Gerry's quartet, and the rest of the "cool school", was an influence on Tom and other Brasilian guys back in the 50s.) Gerry is superb on the clarinet on the Limelight LP "Feelin' Good" - kinda reminiscent of Pres on the clarinet.

The one place where I heard Gerry playing alto was on another Limelight LP, called "Something Borrowed, Something Blue". He plays alto not just on one track, but for about half of the album.

[BillF]

What a talented guy! Don't forget his piano playing - as well as his arranging, of course! He was a brilliant innovator - the Quartet, Sextet and Concert Jazz Band were all without precedent.

[BruceH]

Thanks for reminding me of this excellent album! Threw it on last night. Wonderful.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I don't know if it ever came out on CD, but in the mid-'60s Mulligan made some interesting (if lightweight) records for Limelight (a Mercury label) that included some of his great clarinet playing. "Feelin' Good" was one of them, and another called "If You Can't Beat 'Em" (pop songs of the day), that put him in different settings on different instruments. Very pleasant stuff, if not invigorating.

I know he liked playing clarinet. Backstage at the 1990 Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland I was chatting with Kenny Davern, and Gerry came over to compliment Kenny and Mulligan started talking about the instrument with great affection. He remarked that he was in an apartment, and found the baritone was too loud to practice with, so he kept his chops up by working on the clarinet. He indicated he was going to play it more in public. (Don't think he ever did, though...).

At that discussion, I mentioned how much I liked Irving Fazola's playing, and Kenny said he had Faz' clarinet! He wouldn't play it though, because once it was warmed up it reeked of garlic... I suppose Faz ate lots of garlic, and the fragrance (?) was invested in the wood.

[Stereojack]

I don't know if it ever came out on CD, but in the mid-'60s Mulligan made some interesting (if lightweight) records for Limelight (a Mercury label) that included some of his great clarinet playing. "Feelin' Good" was one of them, and another called "If You Can't Beat 'Em" (pop songs of the day), that put him in different settings on different instruments. Very pleasant stuff, if not invigorating.

Plays alto (alongside Zoot Sims on tenor) on most of "Something Borrowed, Something Blue", also from this period.

[Shrdlu]

We mustn't forget that he also played soprano real well. I don't have any records where he plays it, but I saw a video of a concert where he included it. It was some North Sea type Festival - some name like that.

Of course, it's not exactly rare for a woodwind player to play several members of the family, lol. It is particularly easy to move from one size of sax to another. (Well, maybe not the bass, and the lower monstrosities!)

[Chuck Nessa]

I always thought of this recording as "two (really) white guys playing around". Interesting, nonetheless.

[Denis]

I love this session. Beautiful standards, sounds and ideas. An explosive front line with a stellar rhythm section.

Well it could not be anything else with guys like Gerry, Stan, Lou, Ray and Stan (-:

As a matter of fact I am listening to "That Old Feeling" right now (-:

Denis

[BruceH]

Wonder if Mulligan played the bass clarinet.

[Larry Kart]

I always thought of this recording as "two (really) white guys playing around". Interesting, nonetheless.

And/or "two white guys who really couldn't stand other."