Mulligan, Gerry (1927-1996), was perhaps the most important baritone saxophonist in jazz during the middle and late 1900’s. In 1949 and 1950, he participated in a series of recordings that shaped the cool jazz style of the 1950’s. In 1952, he formed a revolutionary quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker that omitted a piano, which had previously been an essential rhythm instrument in jazz groups. Mulligan recorded with such soloists as Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges, Thelonious Monk, and Ben Webster. His compositions include “Godchild,” “Soft Shoe,” “Venus de Milo,” and “Walkin’ Shoes.”
Gerald Joseph Mulligan was born on April 6, 1927, in New York City. He left school at the age of 17 to begin a career as an arranger and musician. He first earned national recognition in 1947 when he composed and arranged “Disc Jockey Jump” for the Gene Krupa band. He also did arrangements for the bands of several famous leaders, including Stan Kenton, Miles Davis, and Claude Thornhill in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. During the early 1960’s, Mulligan led a popular big band that, like his quartet, had no pianist. He died on Jan. 20, 1996.
