Gerry Mulligan/Johnny Hodges - "Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)". Recorded in 1959, Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges is heralded as one of the best of Mulligan's recorded pairings with fellow instrumentalists. On this date, the two saxophonists are joined by a solid rhythm section of Claude Williamson (piano), Buddy Clark (bass) and Mel Lewis (drums), splitting the repertoire across three originals each from Mulligan and Hodges. The two complement the other throughout except for Mulligan's "What's the Rush," where the baritonist sits out altogether in favor of Hodges' alto taking the spotlight. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

Gerry Mulligan - Nocturne In the role of leader, Mulligan prepared scores that always made jazz a conversation between musicians. Playing was first and foremost an exchange of ideas. Mulligan had an unwavering sense of logic and had shown it from a very young age. The first great result came in the historic recordings of "Birth of the Cool": the leader was Miles Davis but the eminence grise was above all this boy in his early twenties. "It was a concert recorded in Bologna exactly the day after Jeru's sixty-fifth birthday. For that evening in Bologna Mulligan had brought his trusty Dean Johnson and RonVincent, who accompanied him in the last part of his career (he would die a little less than four years later). At the piano sat Harold Danko, whose contribution in mainstream contexts has always been first-rate. And yet his gaze, his sense of humor, his style - and anyone who attended one of his concerts can confirm this - everything has remained lively: as if the crew cut was no longer in his head but somewhere in his soul. Furthermore, while maintaining his sense of logic unchanged, this mature Mulligan knows how to get to the heart of things on stage. If he has to swing, he does it with all the warmth possible. Of the compositions from his golden years, such as Line for Lyons and Walkin' Shoes, he gives us versions that bring memory back to life. But it is in the more intimate pieces that we find the art of the latest Mulligan at it's best. Among these stands out Song for Strayhorn, a tribute to Duke Ellington's right-hand man. Billy Strayhorn was perhaps the musician who influenced him the most in his youth as a composer and arranger. For us who listen to him in Bologna, Mulligan finds the sincerest and most emotional notes to honor that little great man. "

Double vinyl LP pressing. In the role of leader, Mulligan prepared scores that always made jazz a conversation between musicians. Playing was first and foremost an exchange of ideas. Mulligan had an unwavering sense of logic and had shown it from a very young age. The first great result came in the historic recordings of "Birth of the Cool": the leader was Miles Davis but the eminence grise was above all this boy in his early twenties.

Limited Edition - Includes 16-page booklet. This release presents all of the master takes produced during the celebrated quintet sessions co-led by Gerry Mulligan & Ben Webster and originally issued on Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster. The first six tracks included here constitute the complete original album, which received a five-star rating in Down Beat magazine. THE COMPLETE ALBUM + 5 BONUS TRACKS - CD EDITION - 11 TRACKS - TT: 77:10 - LIMITED EDITION - INCLUDES 16-PAGE BOOKLET

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster was just one of many "meets" albums that Gerry Mulligan appeared on during the period when this classic was recorded - Nov. 3 and Dec. 2, 1959, in Los Angeles. Mulligan and Pepper Adams were the baritone saxophonists during the golden age of modern jazz, both masters of the unwieldy and deep-toned instrument. History was made here, as was a classic record for the ages. Mulligan was an innovator of the west coast cool jazz style who flourished playing with all manner of jazz musicians. The tunes he and Webster recorded are smooth, lush and emotional, driven along by a rhythm section that swings with just the right amount of bop. The result is an album that's included among NPR's "Basic Jazz Record Library." Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises' audiophile Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings. All titles are mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged by Stoughton Printing Co. In high-quality gatefold sleeves with tip-on jackets. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings.

The Messengers expanded to a sextet with the addition of Curtis Fuller in 1961 and went into their most Prior to 1960 Concert Band appearance in Copenhagen (SCCD 36502) Mulligan brought his piano less quartet with Art Farmer to the Falkoner Centret on May 21, 1959. The night’s mostly Danish audience were mesmerized by their “cool” sound of so-called West Coast Jazz. As the quartet lasted only a short period of time in the 50s, this album will be one of the rare historical issues. Quartet’s bassist Bill Crow (now age 95) gave interview to Andrew Hoven for the liner notes, which makes a great read.

SteepleChase’ 50th anniversary “In Concert” series continues with Gerry Mulligan’s famed Concert Jazz Band from October 31, 1960 at its first concert in Europe. The Concert Jazz Band’s unique arrangements and its trademark sound of translucency are restored by the modern sound technology. The Concert Jazz Band’s live performance from their European tour have been released before except this from Copenhagen and Berlin. The Django Reinhardt piece Manoir de mes Rêves and Mulligan’s 18 Carrots for Rabbit get rare performance here.

Born April 1927, Gerry Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinettist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists- playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz, Mulligan was also a significant arranger, working with Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, and others. His piano-less quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the best cool jazz groups. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments. Many of his compositions, such as 'Walkin' Shoes' and 'Five Brothers', have become standards. Featuring eight original albums in all, remastered in the finest quality, this box-set compliments perfectly the aforementioned earlier Gerry Mulligan box set on Enlightenment, while equally working well as a standalone compilation of some of this Jazz pioneer's very finest work.

Founded in 1977 by Lionel Hampton, the Who's Who in Jazz label existed as a means to present to the world the best musicians that the jazz world had to offer. With Lionel chairing the recording sessions (and also featuring on several of the sessions himself), these recordings have truly earned their title featuring jazz greats such as Buddy Rich, Charles Mingus, Terumasa Hino, Sonny Stitt, Teddy Wilson, Stephane Grappelli and Dave Brubeck, amidst the many others. Lionel Hampton Presents Gerry Mulligan is a studio album recorded October 25, 1977 at Sound Book Studio, N.Y.C. and sees Mulligan team up with George Duvivier (bass), Grady Tate (drums), Vinnie Bell (guitar), Hank Jones (piano), Candido (congas) and Lionel Hampton (vibraphone) to showcase an array of well-loved compositions including 'Song for Johnny Hodges' and 'Blight of the Fumble Bee'.

Gerry Mulligan, who was primarily known as a baritone saxophonist, but was an expert exponent of other saxophones, clarinet and piano as well as being a highly-respected arranger, was one of the giants of post-war modern jazz and was one of the leading lights in the "cool jazz" movement focused on the USA's West Coast. In 1952 he began a legendary collaboration with the young lyrical trumpeter Chet Baker, newly-arrived on the jazz scene after an Army career, with the primary era of their professional relationship ending in 1953 when Mulligan was jailed on narcotics charges. This great-value 46-track 2-CD set comprises most of the recordings they made together during this time as part of Gerry Mulligan's quartet (Baker also featured in Mulligan's Tentette line-up and a quintet that included Lee Konitz), initially comprising informal 'live' recordings at The Haig jazz club in Los Angeles and at the house of recording engineer Phil Turetsky, and later at the Black Hawk club in San Francisco as well as more formal studio environments. After the first session, which involved pianist Jimmy Rowles and bassist Joe Mondragon, Mulligan developed an innovative piano-less line-up, using bass and drums to make up the quartets, with the pairings being Bobby Whitlock (bass) and and Chico Hamilton (drums), and Carson Smith (bass) and Larry Bunker (drums). It offers fascinating insights into the the way Mulligan and Baker developed an intuitive rapport, and an absorbing collection of landmark modern jazz performances.

Vinyl LP pressing. Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster: Recorded in two sessions during November and December 1959, this historic summit meeting between the baritone and tenor sax masters produced some classic Mulligan compositions ("The Cat Walk," "Tell Me When") and also unique takes on Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" and Jule Styne's "Sunday."

Baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and pianist Thelonious Monk team up on this 1957 record with bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Shadow Wilson. Tracks: 'Round Midnight, Rhythm-A-Ning, Sweet And Lovely, Decidedly, Straight, No Chaser, I Mean You.

Better late than never, these Rorem premieres are irresistible

How remarkable that two such delectable concertos should be receiving their world premieres on disc. Unapologetically romantic and accessible, those qualities may well have mitigated against acceptance among the industry’s fashion-mongers. The Second Piano Concerto (1951) was written for Julius Katchen (also the dedicatee of Rorem’s attractive Second Piano Sonata) and was given its first performance by that superb pianist in 1954. Since then it has lain dormant until its present revival by Simon Mulligan whose brilliance, ideally matched by José Serebrier, is worthy of Katchen himself. Here, the ghosts of Ravel, Françaix, Gershwin, Stravinsky and, most of all, Poulenc, jostle for attention. Yet Rorem’s idiom is as personal as it is chic. The final pages of the central “Quiet and Sad” movement, where the piano weaves intricate tracery round the orchestral theme, may owe much to the Adagio assai from Ravel’s G major Concerto but it maintains its own character. The finale, “Real Fast”, is an irresistible tour de force played up to the hilt by Mulligan.

In the Cello Concerto Rorem happily eschews a conventional form, giving programmatic subtitles to each section. These range from “Curtain Raise” to “Adrift”, offering Wen-Sinn Yang a rich opportunity, whether playing primus inter pares or revelling in Rorem’s alternating nostalgia and effervescence. Finely recorded, it’s a clear winner for the Naxos American Classics series.

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone [12/2007]

Naxos' ongoing series of Ned Rorem orchestral music recordings offers well-deserved recognition to a major American composer. This latest release is no less rewarding than the prior issues. The Second Piano Concerto dates from 1951 and shows the young composer writing with tremendous gusto. A large work (34 minutes) in the traditional three movements, its scoring is both vivid and at times a touch dense and "over the top", while the work's melodic generosity and rhythmic drive are undeniably infectious; its neglect must be counted a major mystery. Conductor José Serebrier's notes make much of the music's "American" qualities, particularly in the finale, but I was much more forcibly struck by Rorem's much-advertised love of French music. Whatever the answer to the "influence" question, this concerto is without doubt a major statement, and it's very impressively performed by Simon Mulligan, Serebrier, and the orchestra, who let the music speak with all of its delicious formal (in the first-movement cadenza) and textural excess.

Rorem's Cello Concerto dates from 2002, and like many of his late orchestra works it abandons traditional form in favor of a series of brief movements given cute names that may or may not have anything significant to do with their musical content. Frankly, I find this habit unnecessarily coy and distracting, but others may simply be intrigued; and if the listener's curiosity, once aroused, leads to giving the music more concentrated attention, then it's all to the good.

The sequence of eight movements is laid out for maximum contrast, and I particularly enjoyed the seventh, a characterful waltz. Indeed, Rorem is such a fine melodist when he wants to be that you have to wonder why he feels the need to venture into more aggressively "modern" territory now and then. Perhaps he's working a little bit too hard at being a "serious" composer. Never mind: this is a fine work, also strongly played by cellist Wen-Sinn Yang. Naxos' engineers have judged the balances very accurately between both soloists and the orchestra, while the occasional opacity at the climaxes of the piano concerto seems more a function of the heavy scoring than a suggestion of technical inadequacy. A fine disc.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com