© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.
I came across the following in Matthew Ruddick, Funny Valentine The Story of Chet Baker. Melrose Books [2014], Kindle Edition, while working on a larger project concerning Gerry Mulligan and thought I’d share it with you for your consideration along with the videos at the end of this piece which span about five+ years in the quartet’s existence.
“[ Almost 60 years] … on, it’s perhaps worth pausing to analyse why the Gerry Mulligan Quartet was so well regarded at the time.
Firstly, from a simplistic perspective, the music provided a stark contrast to bop. The ordered, sometimes chamber-like arrangements were an extension of the ‘cool’ sound pioneered by Mulligan, Evans and Davis in the late 1940s, but stripped back to the bare essentials. It sounded fresh and original then, a cool, fresh breeze after the storm of bop, and has stood the test of time remarkably well.
Secondly, the absence of a piano allowed the musicians to improvise without the safety net of predictable chord progressions; as Chico Hamilton noted, it forced the musicians to listen to one another, providing support where necessary, but also the freedom to explore new directions. Such an arrangement was well suited to Chet, who played by ear, and could respond with ease to anything suggested by the other musicians.
Thirdly, it’s worth remembering that, in addition to being a superb arranger, Mulligan was a composer of some note; tunes like ‘Nights at the Turntable’ and ‘Walkin’ Shoes’ were minor gems, with a relaxed, easy swing and a clean, uncluttered sound.
Last, but not least, the band’s success can be partly attributed to Chet Baker himself; he may have lacked the technical prowess of a Dizzy Gillespie, but he was still a phenomenal musician with a quite unique sound— a star in the making, even at the tender age of twenty-three.”