Mulligan, Gerry

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Biographical Note

  • 1927, Apr. 6: Born, Gerald Joseph Mulligan, Queens, New York
  • 1934: Began studying piano and clarinet
  • 1941: Mulligan family moved to Reading, Pennsylvania Studied saxophone and clarinet with Sammy Correnti who also encouraged him to study arranging
  • 1943: Mulligan family moved to Philadelphia Contacted Johnny Warrington, director of WCAU-CBS radio orchestra, and began working as an arranger Dropped out of high school and began arranging for Tommy Tucker and pianist Elliot Lawrence
  • 1946: Mulligan's arrangements of "How High the Moon" and "Disc Jockey Jump" are recorded with Gene Krupa, marking Mulligan's first appearance on a recording
  • 1947: Arranged for and performed with the orchestras of Woody Herman and Claude Thornhill Began studies with arranger Gil Evans
  • 1949 - 1950 : Created arrangements for and performed on the Birth of the Cool sessions with Miles Davis The album included original Mulligan compositions "Jeru," (a nickname Davis gave to Mulligan), "Venus de Milo," and "Rocker”
  • 1951: Tentet was formed Mulligan Plays Mulligan, his first recording as a leader, was released containing seven of his original compositions
  • 1952: The first recording of the pianoless Gerry Mulligan Quartet was released. The 78rpm recording Lullaby of the Leaves, with "Bernie's Tune," featured Mulligan, Chet Baker (trumpet), Bob Whitlock (bass), and Chico Hamilton (drums) Wrote and arranged "Young Blood" for Stan Kenton's band
  • 1957: Mulligan Meets Monk was recorded with pianist Thelonious Monk, Wilbur Ware (bass), and Shadow Wilson (drums)
  • 1960: Concert Jazz Band was formed Band appeared at Village Vanguard in New York and featured pianoless rhythm section, five reeds (including Mulligan), and six brass
  • 1965: Mulligan, playing baritone saxophone and clarinet, recorded Feelin' Good with a quintet and ten-piece string section
  • 1968 - 1972 : Toured frequently with Dave Brubeck Appeared as soloist on Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Brubeck’s oratorio, The Light in the Wilderness
  • 1971 - 1972 : Recorded and released The Age of Steam
  • 1974: Met future wife Countess Franca Rota Borghini Baldovinetti Recorded Summit with Astor Piazzolla in Milan
  • 1976: Married Franca Rota Borghini Baldovinetti
  • 1977: Composed score for the French film La Menace
  • 1978: Re-formed Concert Jazz Band for the Newport Jazz Festival Performed at President Jimmy Carter's festival, "Jazz at the White House"
  • 1980: Recorded Walk on the Water
  • 1981: Walk on the Water won Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band"
  • 1982: Played solo soprano saxophone in Ravel's Bolero with the New York Philharmonic, at Zubin Mehta's invitation
  • 1983: Little Big Horn released on the GRP recording label
  • 1984: Commissioned composer Harry Freedman to write The Sax Chronicles, a work in which Mulligan's melodies were arranged in the styles of Bach, Brahms, and Mozart Completed Entente for Baritone Saxophone and Orchestra, his first composition for symphony orchestra and solo saxophone
  • 1987: Symphonic Dreams, the first recording of Mulligan with a symphony orchestra, was released
  • 1988: Named a "Duke Ellington Fellow" by Yale University
  • 1989: Recorded Lonesome Boulevard
  • 1991: Assembled Gerry Mulligan Tentet for Re-Birth of the Cool
  • 1992: Performed on National Mall in Washington, D.C. in ceremonies celebrating the inauguration of President Bill Clinton
  • 1994: Elected into the Down Beat Hall of Fame
  • 1995: Dragonfly was released Performed at benefit concert with the Tibetan Monks of the Sera Je Monastery in India and Ornella Vanoni at the Teatro Nazionale in Milan, Italy, where he improvised with thirteen monks playing traditional instruments Won Down Beat International Critics and Readers Poll for Baritone Saxophonist of the Year
  • 1996, Jan. 20: Died at his home in Darien, Connecticut
  • 1996, Oct. 19: Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra performed a concert, "Jeru: The Music of Gerry Mulligan," at Lincoln Center
  • 1997: The Gerry Mulligan All-Star Tribute Band, with soloists Bob Brookmeyer, Lee Konitz, and Randy Brecker, gave a concert series at the Blue Note in New York
  • 1999: The Library of Congress Music Division opened an exhibition of materials from the Gerry Mulligan Collection in the James Madison Memorial Building
  • 2004: The Gerry Mulligan Collection, featuring his oral autobiography, was launched as part of the Library of Congress' "Performing Arts Encyclopedia" initiative

From the guide to the Gerry Mulligan Collection, circa 1940-1994, (Music Division Library of Congress)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Gerry Mulligan Collection, circa 1940-1994 Library of Congress. Music Division
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. NCSA Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Gerry meets hamp [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Harvard Jazz Band. A Gerry Mulligan musical retrospective. Harvard University Archives.
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. NCSA Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Apple core [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. NCSA Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
referencedIn Duke Ellington recordings collection Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library, Harvard College Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Walking shoes [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. I mean you [Multimédia multisupport] / Gerry Mulligan, saxo. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Flight of the bumble bee [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Limelight [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
referencedIn Ambassador Auditorium Collection, 1974-1995 Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. I mean you / Gerry Mulligan, saxo. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
referencedIn Tom Boras scores, 1962-2001 The New York Public Library. Music Division.
referencedIn Boras, Tom. Tom Boras scores, 1962-2001. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Flight of the bumble bee [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Limelight [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Line for lions [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Baker, Chet. Freeway. HCL Technical Services, Harvard College Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Apple core [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Gerry meets hamp [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
referencedIn American Vaudeville Museum collection, 1845-2007, (bulk 1910-1940) University of Arizona Libraries, Library Special Collections
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Blues for Gerry [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Blues for Gerry [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf W. Royal Stokes Collection of Music Photoprints and Interviews National Museum of American History (U.S.). Archives Center
creatorOf William Russo Music and Personal Papers National Museum of American History (U.S.). Archives Center
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Line for lions [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry. Ohio traveler / G. Mulligan. Harvard University, Loeb Music Library
referencedIn Cornell University Jazz Festival. Cornell University Jazz Festival records, 1964. Cornell University Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry. Thruway. Harvard University, Loeb Music Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Walking shoes [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Freedman, Harry, 1922-2005. Celebration / Harry Freedman. University of Alberta
creatorOf NCSA Jazz Ensemble. NCSA Jazz Ensemble [sound recording]. University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Semans Library
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Song for Johnny Hodges [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Mulligan, Gerry, 1927-1996. Song for Johnny Hodges [Multimédia multisupport] / Mulligan Gerry, saxo. baryton. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Museum of Vaudeville corporateBody
associatedWith Baker, Chet. person
associatedWith Boras, Tom. person
associatedWith Brookmeyer, Bob, 1929- person
associatedWith Cohn, Al. person
associatedWith Cornell University Jazz Festival. corporateBody
associatedWith Cullen, Frank, 1936- person
associatedWith Dankworth, John. person
associatedWith Dodge, Joseph Jeffers person
associatedWith Dodge, Joseph Jeffers person
associatedWith Forman, Mitchel, 1956- person
associatedWith Freedman, Harry, 1922-2005. person
associatedWith Grusin, Dave. person
associatedWith Handy, George. person
associatedWith Harvard Jazz Band. corporateBody
associatedWith Holman, Bill. person
associatedWith Lee, Julian, 1923- person
associatedWith Mandel, Johnny. person
associatedWith McFarland, Gary. person
associatedWith McNeilly, Donald, 1945- person
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
associatedWith NCSA Jazz Ensemble. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Arrangers (Musicians)
Composers
Jazz
Jazz
Jazz musicians
Music
Music
Saxophonists
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1927-04-06

Death 1996-01-20

Americans

Information

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Ark ID: w66z0222

SNAC ID: 84864603