Five-Star Collection... Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan Quartet

Paris Concert

Few bands have shot to the top and won the unanimous acclaim of jazz fans as quickly as has the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.

It was with some apprehension, therefore, that we looked forward to their appearance at the Salle Pleyel on June 1, 1954, as part of the Third Paris Jazz Festival, for we had been disappointed more than once by famous soloists or big name bands from America.

Having heard only records, and knowing what marvelous results modern recording techniques can produce, weren't we going to be disappointed by a personal appearance? Would such a reduced combo be able to project beyond the footlights in as large and cold a hall as the Salle Pleyel? Wouldn't the balance of the Quartet suffer from having Chet Baker's trumpet replaced by the trombone of Bob Brookmeyer, who was completely unknown here? And last of all, how could this simple little quartet of white musicians compete with the memories left by the big bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, or by Louis Armstrong's dynamic Hot Five which we had previously heard in this same Salle Pleyel?

All these fears melted away as if by magic the moment the Gerry Mulligan Quartet launched into the first bars of "Come Out Wherever You Are," with which they opened the first set of the Jazz Festival that memorable evening of June 1, 1954.

Something very unusual happened — for a jazz concert: the audience was seized at once by a sort of rapt fervor, and a real communion was established between the public and the band. It was as if the audience had suddenly put aside its customary boisterousness to give complete attention to a really special musical treat.  *Charles Dalaunay (from the liner notes)*

A record of a Paris Concert, specifically a June 1, 1954, event at Paris' Salle Pleyel, part of the Third Paris Jazz Festival. Drummer is Frank Isola, with Red Mitchell on bass and Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone. So far as I know, this is the only recording available of the quartet with Brookmeyer as the complementary horn (although Bob and Gerry have recorded together in other contexts).

Although Gerry has since wisely gone on beyond the limitations inherent in this kind of quartet, it's valuable to have a record of the quartet at its height in that Brookmeyer is a more creative, thinking musician than were any of his predecessors in the unit. As a result, Mulligan is also extended, and the playing of the two throughout is a stimulating, sinewy set of superior examples of the art of modern collective linear improvisation. Both are also creative soloists with guts and jazz-roots. (Dig the more vigorous than heretofore quartet version of Moonlight and those moving Shoes).

Mitchell is excellent (he also has a fine solo on Love Me). Isola could flow more, but he's a steady drummer. The set includes the whole scene with the applause and even with some of Gerry's well-intentioned French. Generally good recorded sound. Notes are by Charles Delaunay, head of France's Jazz-Hot. *Nat Hentoff (Down Beat, March 21, 1956 [5 stars])*

Side 1

1 - Come Out Wherever You Are

(J. Styne, S. Cahn)

2 - Five Brothers

(Gerry Mulligan)

3 - Laura

(D. Raksin, J. Mercer)

4 - Love Me Or Leave Me

(W. Donaldson, G. Kahn)

5 - Utter Chaos (Mulligan closing theme)

(Gerry Mulligan)

Side 2

6 - Bernie's Tune

(B. Miller)

7 - Walkin' Shoes

(Gerry Mulligan)

8 - Moonlight In Vermont

(K. Suessdorf, J. Blackburn)

9 - The Lady Is A Tramp

(R. Rodgers, L. Hart)

10 - Utter Chaos (Mulligan closing theme)

(Gerry Mulligan)

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone),

Red Mitchell (bass), Frank Isola (drums).

Recorded live at Salle Pleyel, Paris, France, June 1, 1954