Gerry Mulligan Tribute Is a Two-Sided Hit

Gerry Mulligan’s arrival in Los Angeles in the early ‘50s--reportedly after hitchhiking out from New York--had a singular effect on West Coast jazz. His so-called piano-less quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker set the tone for the cool, contrapuntal style that would become associated with the music of the decade. Less visibly, his application of that style to his writing for larger ensembles would also have a significant impact on the arriving young arranger-composers of the period.

On Wednesday night at the Hermosa Playhouse, the Los Angeles Jazz Institute celebrated the 50th anniversary of Mulligan’s Southland arrival with a program exploring his work for his Tentette and for the Stan Kenton Orchestra. The selections were performed by an all-star ensemble of Los Angeles players, some of whom were veterans of one or another Mulligan ensemble.

The programming, which presented the Tentette pieces first, followed in the concert’s second half by the Kenton big band charts, offered a fascinating opportunity to experience the skill with which Mulligan transformed the bare skeleton of the quartet style--first into spare, 10-piece versions, then into fully fleshed orchestral works.

A pair of pieces, for example--”Walking Shoes” and “Simba”--was displayed, first as works for the 10-piece band, followed by big band versions (“Simba” was retitled “Intro” in the Kenton rendering). In both cases, Mulligan augmented his musical palette without losing either the harmonic airiness or the bright sense of swing of the smaller interpretations.

What he added, instead, was the potential of the large group, with its powerhouse brass section, to generate dramatic bursts of sound and fury.

When all those elements came together in works composed specifically for the Kenton Orchestra--the classic “Youngblood” was the best example--the results were magnificent, a stunning example of Mulligan’s unerring ability to retain his primal rhythmic drive and love for melody in everything he did.

Bill Holman, who conducted the celebration’s ensembles and who is a major composer-arranger in his own right, was precisely right when he introduced “Youngblood” as a “masterpiece.”

Repertory concerts of this sort are vitally important, and producer Ken Poston and the Los Angeles Jazz Institute deserve praise for their continuing efforts to keep this music alive. One can only wish, however, that funding was available to provide more thorough rehearsal time--this was, after all, a demanding program of music--and more effective promotion.

That said, there were strong solo efforts from, to mention only a few, baritone saxophonist Bob Efford, taking on the weighty task of reviving the Mulligan instrumental sound; trumpeters Bob Summers and Ron Stout; trombonist Andy Martin and Bob Enevoldsen; and saxophonists Lanny Morgan, Doug Webb and Bill Perkins.

The two ensembles engaged the spirit, if occasionally blurring the precise notes, of the Mulligan musical magic.