Gerry Mulligan; Versatile Jazz Saxophonist

Baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, a versatile jazz musician who worked with Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington, died Saturday. He was 68.

Mulligan died at his home in Darien, Conn., of complications from a knee infection, said his wife, Franca Mulligan.

He helped create the cool jazz movement but was also at home in big bands and playing bebop and Dixieland. Mulligan, also a bandleader and composer, recorded with a variety of well-known musicians in different styles.

“It’ll be a real loss because he was such an inspiration,” said Brubeck, in Cincinnati on Saturday for a concert. “He just had such a grasp of what to do when he was playing.

“There were so many things Jerry still wanted to do musically,” the pianist said. “It’s a real shame. He won’t be around to do them.”

Mulligan was born April 6, 1927, in New York and grew up in Philadelphia. He wrote arrangements for Johnny Warrington’s radio band as a teenager and wrote for Gene Krupa’s band after moving back to New York in 1946.

He became part of the cool jazz movement and took part in Davis’ recordings in 1949 and 1950.

Mulligan won acclaim in 1952 after forming his first pianoless quartet in Los Angeles with Chet Baker on trumpet. He played and recorded with Ellington at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958.

In 1960, Mulligan formed a 13-piece concert jazz band and toured Europe and Japan. Also that year, he played a clergyman in the movie “The Subterraneans.”

While touring with Brubeck’s groups from 1968 to 1972, Mulligan and saxophonist Paul Desmond displayed their talents for improvised countermelody.

“He didn’t overdo anything,” said Red Norvo, a vibraphonist who sometimes played with Mulligan in Los Angeles. “He always did it with great taste. It wasn’t an ego thing.”

Mulligan performed through 1995.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Reed Mulligan, of Florida.

Mulligan will be cremated and a memorial service will be held later.