Mulligan, Baker, and Desmond

Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker created quite a stir in 1952 with their "piano-less" quartet.  I suppose you could say, as we Straussian political theorists do, that the piano is conspicuous by its absence.  The two disc Original Quartet is surely Mulligan's magnum opus.  With just a bass and drums behind Mulligan's tugboat baritone sax and Baker's ever-romantic trumpet, the rich collection combines the best elements of the trio, duet, and quartet forms.  This music has that "real thing" feel: raw and perfect.  

Here is a sample: 

Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker/Makin' Woopee

Another Mulligan classic is Two of  Mind with tenor Paul Desmond.  Much the same may be said about this recording.  I especially like the contrast between the liquorish sound of Desmond's alto and the velvet cushion of Mulligan's baritone.  I have said it before: I like the low horns. 

Here is a sample:

Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan/All The Things You Are

Give these a listen, and if you like them, buy the discs.  Both the Bluebird edition of Two of a Mind and a shorter version are available at eMusic.  And don't forget to leave a comment.  I had no friends when I was a kid.  This is all I got. 

ps.  I listened to Anthony Braxton's Six Monk's Compositions again this afternoon.  I really think that this is one of those neglected gems. 

More Mulligan, More Farmer

For some strange reason, the last two files uploaded to my drop.io site won't play with the drop.io player. They worked yesterday! It seems that you can still download the files and play them with some other software. It may be that there is some wicked file protection curse at work.

As a consolation, I have posted a couple of pieces from Art Farmer's Ph.D., and from Mulligan Meets Monk. The latter features Wilber Ware on bass, and Shadow Wilson on drums, but it is obviously a Mulligan/Monk duet. It is a splendid version of 'Round Midnight', and one can't have enough versions of that Monk classic. The sound of Mulligan's horn seems to me to be exactly right. It almost provides its own midnight mist. And for all his dominance of composition, and his world class idiosyncrasies as a soloist, Monk might have been the best accompniest in jazz. There is pure genius in the way he lays out strings of meditative notes under Mulligan's solo.

The Farmer recording features "This sextet outing (which also includes guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist James Williams, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith". That's from the eMusic site. I have posted Mr. Day's Dream. You can listen to them at this link:

http://drop.io/jazznotesdp3

Let's hope it is working tomorrow.