COMPOSERS: Mulligan,Various
LABELS: Verve
ALBUM TITLE: Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band
PERFORMER: Gerry Mulligan (ldr, bs, p), with his big band
CATALOGUE NO: LPR Series 589 488-2
This exemplary reissue forms part of the new LPR Series from Universal. Recorded when the big-band era was long gone it reveals how the idiom was far from exhausted.
Mulligan actually formed his Concert Jazz Band in the Sixties, in the face of the rock explosion, a leap of faith that should have been better rewarded since it demonstrated swing, intensity and drama could be achieved low volume. Mulligan’s own ‘Blueport’captures a wonderful extended exchange between the leader’s baritone sax and Clark Terry’s trumpet that is alone worth the price of the CD.
This album numbers among anyone’s ‘essential jazz purchases’ and its reappearance in the catalogue reminds us that complete box sets of Herman’s Swingin’ Young Herd and Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band are long overdue. Stuart Nicholson