GERRY MULLIGAN “Nocturne”

ARTIST

Gerry Mulligan

ALBUM TITLE

“Nocturne”

LABEL

Red Records

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This newly released live recording from 1992, refreshingly free of concert redundancies, provides a valuable occasion to revisit Mulligan’s post-golden-age career. Following the dissolution of the Concert Jazz Band in 1963, Mulligan entered a transitional phase—less assured as a leader, more subdued as a soloist—coinciding with the long illness and eventual passing of actress Judy Holliday in 1965. Yet even during this period, notably when he joined Dave Brubeck’s quartet in 1968, Mulligan’s instrumental voice became denser and more assertive.

Beginning with his return to bandleading on 1971’s The Age of Steam, Mulligan developed a unique compositional style and a vision of syncretic jazz—a continuation of the choices he had made since adopting the baritone saxophone. From then until the end of his career, he emerged as a complete musician, one whose instrumental sound was inseparable from his compositional identity. His baritone tone lent singular color to the folk, pop, elegiac, and dramatic threads in his music—as well as to Astor Piazzolla’s tango, as memorably captured in their 1974 Summit.

In this concert, however, Mulligan’s signature sound must coexist with a more mainstream setting: a classic quartet with piano, bass, and drums. The setlist includes Take the ‘A’ Train and two early classics—Line for Lyons and Walkin’ Shoes—whose original contrapuntal brilliance is somewhat diluted. There are also a few excessive solo exchanges. Yet these shortcomings do not detract from the darkly luminous reading of My Funny Valentine, in which Harold Danko—freed from his usual mannerisms—finds unexpected depth. Other highlights come from Mulligan’s later work, especially Lonesome Boulevard (1989), represented here by The Flying Scotsman, Curtains, and the title track. Midas Lives, an introspective, melancholy gem previously unrecorded in studio, appears here for the first time.

All told, this performance is full of nuance and emotional weight. Ironically, releasing the entire concert may have weakened its impact—it might have been stronger as a single CD rather than a pricier two-disc set. But the producer clearly chose to cater to collectors seeking a complete document.
—Paolo Vitolo

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