DISC 1

DISC 2

1. Lullaby of the Leaves
2. My Funny Valentine
3. Moonlight In Vermont
4. Cherry
5. Makin' Whoopee
6. The Nearness of You
7. Laura
8. My Funny Valentine
9. Song for Johnny Hodges

1. My Funny Valentine
2. My Old Flame
3. These Foolish Things
4. Speak Low
5. The Nearness of You
6. Makin' Whoopee
7. Moonlight in Vermont
8. Lullaby of the Leaves
9. Line For Lyons

August 16, 1952

May 20, 1953

September 2, 1952

March 27, 1953

January 3, 1953

January 25, 1053

February 24, 1953

May 7, 1953

April 29-30, 1953

June 1, 1954

June 3, 1954

June 3, 1954

June 1, 1954

June 7, 1954

1977

June 5, 1954

Candido Camero, George Duvivier, Lionel Hampton, Hank Jones, Gerry Mulligan, Bucky Pizzarelli, Grady Tate

1977

 LINER NOTES

JERU AND CHET

Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker virtually kick started the jazz movement known as West Coast with the quartet these two great artists co founded; and with which both enjoyed an early taste of fame. Their remarkable success was perhaps a consequence of the fact that their two styles complemented each other almost perfectly. Chet Baker's virtually untutored sounds came directly from the heart, from the moment of playing, the epitome of the lifeblood of jazz, improvisation, whereas Gerry Mulligan applied an intellectual almost analytical touch to his work, something that no doubt contributed to the greatness of his arrangements and his undoubted importance in that area too, not least for Miles Davis.

FROM THE OCARINA TO THE BARITONE

Gerald Joseph Mulligan, also known as Jeru, was born on 6 April 1927 in Queens Village, Long Island, New York City. Gerry Mulligan actually started out on ocarina and ukulele but soon added clarinet and various saxophones to his repertoire. His parents both played piano and Gerry was encouraged to take lessons. Gerry's father was an engineer, whose job required a high degree of travelling, and young Gerry spent a great deal of his childhood travelling between different towns in Ohio and Michigan. The family finally settled down in Philadelphia in 1944. The first person to encourage him to become a jazz artist was a dance band musician by the name of Sammy Correnti, with whom Gerry studied clarinet and rudimentaries of arranging. Gerry was mostly self taught however.

Gerry formed a dance band at high school and managed to sell arrangements to WCAU's station house band, led by John Warrington. He decided to leave school when he was given the chance to go on tour but the job never came off. Gerry started looking for work as an arranger and landed a thirteen week contract with Tommy Tucker, also touring with him. While touring with Tucker, Gerry got the chance to hear Billy Eckstine's band and was so impressed by what he heard that he changed his arranging style significantly. Tucker, who was more conservative in his musical tastes, was not too pleased with this development and Gerry's contract was not extended.

He went back to Philadelphia and found a regular job as arranger of the WCAU's house band, led by Elliot Lawrence. Between 1944 and 1945, Gerry Mulligan worked with Harvey Marburger and Chuck Gordon, also playing with Alex Bartha and George Paxton and touring with Elliot Lawrence. Gerry started to travel between New York and Philadelphia, especially to see his new friend Charlie Parker, and by January 1946 planned to settle in New York. However, the West Coast was calling and he was taken on by Gene Krupa in Los Angeles as his big band arranger, also recording with Krupa's band in 1947.

COOL BIRTH

Gerry Mulligan went back to New York after working with Gene Krupa for a year, now taking an interest in the blossoming cool jazz movement in the Big Apple. Gerry started working in Claude Thornhill's big band, writing scores, performing and recording with them in 1948. Gerry also made the acquaintance of Thornhill's main arranger Gil Evans in 1948 and it was actually in Evans' apartment on West 55th that the long discussions took place which led to the creation of Miles Davis' legendary 'Birth Of The Cool' nonet. Although mainly led by Davis and Evans, Gerry Mulligan was an important part of this group. Together with Gil Evans and pianist and composer John Lewis, Gerry wrote and arranged most of the material for the nonet's recording sessions between 1949 and 1950.

During this period in New York, Gerry became addicted to heroin. He was already using marijuana, which was introduced to him by a member of Tommy Tucker's band, and was arrested one day for possession of marijuana while out walking the L.A. streets with Charlie Parker. Gerry's addiction to heroin led to a chaotic period in his life but even during these troubled times, in 1951, he wrote scores for Stan Kenton's big band. Mulligan also played for a while with Howard Rumsey's 'Lighthouse All Stars' and landed a regular Monday night gig at The Haig, a small club on Wilshire Avenue in Los Angeles. It was probably then that the baritone saxophonist realized how much extra freedom he had in his solos when he played without a pianist.

THE GERRY MULLIGAN QUARTET

When Gerry Mulligan came to Hollywood in the summer of 1952 he was looking for more room for his unique style of playing baritone sax; and he was able to realise this goal with the formation of his own quartet. He chose the young trumpeter Chet Baker, whom he knew from Monday night jam sessions at The Haig and with Chet, he had found just the right player to complement himself. Like Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker did not need to show off by playing loud, he delivered his lyrical lines with a clear, mezzo forte tone. Gerry's more cheerful tone contrasted well with Chet's more subdued playing and there was an amazing sense of understanding between the trumpeter and the saxophonist. Gerry Mulligan formed the quartet with bassist Bob Whitlock and drummer Chico Hamilton, the rhythm section later being replaced by Carson Smith and Larry Bunker. This pianoless quartet made its first appearance at The Haig, hired by the club's press agent Richard Bock. Bock was so amazed by the pianoless group that he even borrowed money to record them, marking Gerry Mulligan's revolutionizing of this particular type of band and the beginning of Richard Bock's own recording company, Pacific Jazz Records.

CHET BAKER

In 1952, as a member of Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartet, Chet Baker was already well on his way to becoming a cult figure. Film star looks, a sensitive nature and a troubled life; Chet had all the right ingredients for the role he seemed destined to play in his life, ultimately resulting in his untimely and mysterious death. But he was first and foremost a magnificent trumpet player and a singer with a glorious voice. There was, however, little in his childhood upbringing to indicate the heights that he would reach and the depths to which he would plummet.

CHILDHOOD CHET

Chet Baker was born Chesney Henry Baker on 23 December 1929 on a farm on the outskirts of Yale, Oklahoma. The effects of the Depression that followed the 1929 Wall Street crash had drastic consequences for the Baker family and, coupled with the drought of the 1930s that turned the rural areas of Oklahoma into a dust bowl, the Great Depression reduced the people of that region to desperate measures. Chesney Henry was only one year old when his father was forced to look for a living elsewhere. He took his family to live with his sister, Chesney Henry's Aunt Agnes, in Oklahoma City, a hundred kilometres to the south west of their farm. Every summer the family returned to the farm until young Chet was ten years old. Then, in 1940, Chet's father moved his family to Glendale, California where he found employment working for the aircraft manufacturing company, Lockheed.

Chet's father had been a guitar player in the earlier days and young Chet was encouraged during his schooldays at Redondo Junior High to nurture his musical talents. He took up trumpet and sang in the church choir, also playing in the school orchestra. It appears Chet had an innate feel for music but he could not read music particularly well. It also seems that he did not have any particular interest in playing jazz, although his father was a jazz fan. Chet's restlessness gripped him at an early age and he began to miss classes at Redondo Junior High spending as much time as possible on the beaches of the Santa Monica Bay area. Matters eventually came to a head after disagreements with his parents over his behaviour and he decided to join the United States Army.

ARMY LIFE

In order to enlist Chet had to lie about his age, claiming to be seventeen years old; this was probably one of the earliest occasions on which his lack of respect for authority manifested itself. The authorities were fooled and after an initial period working in an office he was recruited to the 298th Army Band. The 298th Army Band was stationed in Berlin and not only did Chet develop a fondness for Europe and the European lifestyle, he also discovered an enthusiasm for jazz and bebop in particular; Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Kenton were his greatest influences during this period. Chet left the 298th Army Band in 1948 and headed back to California, where he immediately threw himself into the Los Angeles jazz scene. His newly discovered enthusiasm for jazz music had highlighted his limited knowledge of musical principles however and so he enrolled at Los Angeles' El Camino College to study music theory and harmony. Once again however, he failed to complete his studies.

However much he failed on the theoretical side he was definitely getting a good grounding in the practicalities of performing. Almost obsessively he took part in as many jam sessions as he could, becoming an integral part of the burgeoning cool jazz scene. This continued for two years until Chet got married. He had known his wife Charlaine for just a few months and inevitably the relationship foundered; he was just twenty years old at the time, Charlaine was a little older. He decided to re join the Army and enlisted in the Presidio Army Band based in San Francisco. For a year he managed to combine his military duties with night time jamming sessions, appearing regularly at Bop City, until in 1951 he was transferred to a post in the middle of the Arizona desert, Fort Huachuka. This was less to his liking and after a short while he went absent without leave.

Chet returned to his unit after a month's absence and for his trouble he was put in a psychiatric ward. He was judged 'unsuitable for army life' shortly afterwards and was discharged from the army for a second time. Chet returned to Los Angeles and decided to become a professional musician. Through his contacts with producer Richard Bock, Chet entered Charlie Parker's sphere of influence. On Bock's recommendation Chet attended an audition for Charlie Parker's outfit at the Tiffany Club. Chet sailed through the audition and performed with Parker officially for the first time on 29 May 1952. Chet Baker had arrived and not only that, he had started at the top. Unfortunately, the gigs with Charlie Parker only lasted a short period but following this lively episode Chet came to the attention of the musician who would have such a profound effect on his life; Gerry Mulligan. The 'Gerry Mulligan Quartet' was in place. SEPERATE WAYS

Unfortunately, Gerry Mulligan's first pianoless quartet was shortlived, despite its extraordinary success. A year after it was formed, in September 1953, Gerry was arrested on drug charges and was imprisoned up until Christmas. Chet Baker simply moved on. After Gerry Mulligan came out of prison, Baker apparently met him by chance on the streets of Hollywood but instead of offering to help his old colleague get back on his feet, Chet said he would only work for him if he paid him twice his previous salary. Gerry did not take up the offer; instead he headed back to New York. Chet Baker went back to playing for Charlie Parker in 1953 and mostly led his own groups, including his own quartet. After his return to New York in spring 1956, Chet also started taking heroin. His sideman Dick Twardzik had already died from an overdose while Chet's group had been playing in Paris and now the trumpeter's own addiction started taking a toll on his career.

Chet had to serve several federal hospital and prison sentences in the U.S.A. and was also imprisoned in Italy from 1960 to 1961, again on drug related offences. Two years later he was arrested in Munich and after this incident moved to Paris. Chet was given the chance to perform again and appeared at the Chat qui Peche and Blue Note clubs. When his trumpet was stolen at the Chat qui Peche he bought a flugelhorn as a replacement, leading to Chet's preference for flugelhorn for the rest of the 1960s. In March 1964, Chet was deported back to the U.S.A.; he had simply been arrested too often and had outstayed his welcome. Back in the States Chet tried to settle down in New York, where he was befriended by the renowned arranger and composer Tadd Dameron. Chet made some further recordings, but unfortunately found himself tangled up with some unscrupulous dealings and fled to the West Coast once more.

In 1966 and 1967 he was arrested and imprisoned in California for drugs offences and for forging prescriptions. His father died, and Chet was beaten up, apparently after failing to pay for drugs he had obtained from a dealer. Not only that, but his teeth, which had been gradually deteriorating, were finally damaged beyond repair. He now needed dentures, which of course affected his trumpet playing ability. Chet Baker gave up playing, moved himself and his family into his mother's house, and began living off social security payments. Inevitably his need for heroin once again reduced him to stealing and forging prescriptions, and yet again he was arrested. This was the lowest point of his life but he was given one last chance. A sympathetic judge gave him five month's detention on the condition that Chet embark on a methadone rehabilitation programme; he spent the next five years preparing for his comeback.

NEW CHANCE

Although technically still addicted to heroin, the methadone treatment enabled Chet to take control of his own life. After spending the next few years concentrating on his playing technique, having reverted back to the trumpet he felt ready to perform again in 1973. At a low profile gig in Colorado en route to New York Dizzy Gillespie helped him get a two week residency at the Half Note club in New York in November 1973. Chet gradually clambered back into the jazz world. He began recording again and appeared once more at the Carnegie Hall, where in a concert in November 1974 Chet Baker was re united with Gerry Mulligan. Despite the success of the comeback, he had not completely lost his wandering ways.

In July 1975 he set off for a short tour of Europe but the tour was not without mishaps. Chet forgot to tell his manager that he was still barred from entering Germany following his deportation a decade earlier, and a further brush with the authorities occurred. But he was performing and recording again, and building up a following. Many specialist jazz labels were interested in his work and he recorded a great deal of material in the early 1980s, and travelled between Europe and the States constantly. But there was to be another tragic twist to Chet's troubled life.

In 1987 Baker took part in the filming of a documentary of his life by filmmaker Bruce Weber, a film called 'Let's Get Lost'. The film shows a troubled genius, destroyed by drugs and womanising but the most shocking part of the film is Chet Baker's ravaged appearance, highlighting how tragically he was becoming lost to his addiction. A concert on 7 May 1988 in Rotterdam showed Chet's perilous condition to the few individuals who attended it. He spent the next few days wandering the streets of Rotterdam in search of drugs and somewhere to stay. Chet Baker was truly lost. A few days later, 13 May 1988, in the middle of the night, he was found dead outside an Amsterdam hotel, having apparently fallen or jumped from the window of his hotel room. It took twelve hours to identify the body. No one knew he was missing because no one knew where he was. The police initially described the body they had found as that of an 'approximately thirty year old man'; even in death, Chet Baker had retained something of his youthful appearance.

THE CONCERT JAZZ BAND

Back in the early 1950s, Gerry Mulligan started touring and recording in Europe, including his astounding performance at the Salle Pleyel, Paris in 1954. He was now one of the most important baritone saxophonists of his day. Following Chet Baker's departure from the quartet, one of Gerry's most important sidemen was valve trombone player, pianist and arranger Bob Brookmeyer, who collaborated with the baritone player on many different projects over the years. Different versions of Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartets continued throughout the decade and each of his groups was quite unique in line up and style, even featuring trumpeter Art Farmer in 1958. In 1960, Gerry Mulligan formed his thirteen piece `Concert Jazz Band`, with which he toured Europe and Japan. The two major solo artists were Gerry Mulligan on baritone and Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone and Gerry Mulligan had now reached the musical goal he had been striving for throughout his entire career.

Jazz had now become a more commercial business in itself, and jazz musicians participated in many more formats of the media, but Gerry Mulligan surrounded himself with loyal musicians who stayed true to his musical concepts. The fierce loyalty of his fellow band members point to one of Gerry Mulligan's greatest qualities: that of being a true leader. He treated his musicians with respect and understood that each individual contributed to the group as a whole. Gerry was also known to pay well as a leader but his musicians were also united in their wish to play great jazz. However, it was difficult for Gerry to keep the large group functioning properly, reforming a smaller line up in 1964 with Brookmeyer.

SIDEMAN MULLIGAN

In 1966, Gerry Mulligan worked with Bill Holman on 'Music For Baritone Saxophone And Orchestra', which premiered with the Los Angeles Neophonic Orchestra. Gerry then decided to take a back seat and became a sideman, figuring prominently with Dave Brubeck between 1968 and 1972. Gerry Mulligan appeared as an extra added attraction to Brubeck's group and the group was now billed as 'The Dave Brubeck Trio Featuring Guest Star Gerry Mulligan'. The group gave excellent performances and often worked with symphony orchestras. Gerry eventually went back to a big band in the form of an outfit called the 'Age Of Steam', featuring Bob Brookmeyer once again along with Harry 'Sweets' Edison on trumpet.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Gerry performed at re union concerts with Chet Baker, re formed his 'Concert jazz Band' and led other big bands. In the 1990s he dug out his Miles Davis recordings and revived some of the standards he had recorded, still working into the last months of his life. Gerry Mulligan died in Darien, Connecticut on 20 January 1996. As his recordings indicate he was a masterful arranger, composer and saxophone player and he deservedly won many awards in a productive career that lasted over five decades.

GREAT GIFTS