Liner Notes

Birth of the Cool

Here’s an album I thought was going to be unplayable when I saw the condition of the cover. I have no idea why the back and front are completely separated. And the bigger surprise is that my dad didn’t put it back together with his usual black electrical tape patchwork.

But I’m glad I didn’t overlook it because of the condition of the cover when I listened to the music it wasn’t covering very well. This was some great jazz that I didn’t mind listening to several times while I was deciding on the songs for this episode.

So get ready to hear a couple of musicians who were around for the birth of the cool in Volume 217: Gerry and Chet.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here or on YouTube:

Credits and Copyrights:

See information from the Discogs.com page here

Gerry Mulligan Quartet Featuring Chet Baker – Gerry Mulligan Quartet
Label: Pacific Jazz – PJ-1207
Series: West Coast Artists Series – 1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Released: 1955
Genre: Jazz
Style: Cool Jazz

We will hear 7 of the 12 songs on this album.

Frenesi
written by Alberto Domínguez

Lullaby Of The Leaves
written by Joe Young and Bernice Petkere

I’m Beginning To See The Light
written by Duke Ellington, Harry James, Johnny Hodges, and Don George

Jeru
written by Gerry Mulligan

Cherry
written by Don Redman and Ray Gilbert

Tea For Two
written by Don Redman and Ray Gilbert

Makin’ Whoopee
written by Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

#gerrymulligan #chetbaker #cooljazz

Here is the Episode Script!

Thanks sweetie and thank YOU for tuning into episode 217 of Spinning My Dad’s Vinyl.

Here’s an album I thought was going to be unplayable when I saw the condition of the cover. I have no idea why the back and front are completely separated. And the bigger surprise is that my dad didn’t put it back together with his usual black electrical tape patchwork.

But I’m glad I didn’t overlook it because of the condition of the cover when I listened to the music it wasn’t covering very well. This was some great jazz that I didn’t mind listening to several times while I was deciding on the songs for this episode.

So get ready to hear a couple of musicians who were around for the birth of the cool in Volume 217: Gerry and Chet.

[Music: Frenesi]

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet Featuring Chet Baker performing Frenesi
written by Alberto Domínguez

Ok…Why this record for this episode?

From the moment I set the needle down on this record I knew I was going to enjoy it all the way through and I wasn’t wrong.

Bass, drums, saxophone and trumpet. No piano, which was where the cool sound came from.

While it’s not the hard, intricate bop you may have become accustomed to hearing from Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, there are certain elements that are undeniably bebop.

The interplay between Mulligan on saxophone and Baker on trumpet is smoother, more relaxed, and not as melodically connected as you heard from Bird and Diz.

This is a great recording and I’m sorry I had to leave music from the album unplayed. But that’s typical for the format I have set for this show to keep most episodes near a half hour.

Next up, don’t fall asleep to this one.

[Music: Lullaby Of The Leaves]

Lullaby Of The Leaves
written by Joe Young and Bernice Petkere

Now let me tell you about my dad’s vinyl I am spinning for this episode.

Gerry Mulligan Quartet Featuring Chet Baker – Gerry Mulligan Quartet
Label: Pacific Jazz – PJ-1207
Series: West Coast Artists Series – 1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Released: 1955
Genre: Jazz
Style: Cool Jazz

We will hear 7 of the 12 songs on this album.

The liner notes written by Whitney Balliett
are extremely extensive and go on about a specific time in jazz history that is really detailed, so I will find just a few sentences about Mulligan and the music to read to you.

Mulligan is a fresh and convincing melodist. Writing a pure and ingratiating melody is like putting together a sentence that, by virtue of its perfectly chosen and arranged parts, has grace, rhythm, and meaning. A rare talent in any sort of composed music, it is woefully rare among modern Jazz musicians, a great many of whom began in 1940 or so, the interesting practice of writing their own material. In his writing for both small and big bands Mulligan is, of course, one of the finest big band arrangers in the business today, he is no innovator in the sense that Teddy Charles or Lenny Tristano presently are with their Adventures into extended forms, free improvisations, and the left-field harmonies.

On the contrary, the quartet sides, with their warmth and narrow brushes with a kind of Dixieland impulse, often sound strangely old fashioned. In the way of the modernists, though, Mulligan believes in controlling firmly through rehearsals and his writing, the voices he had at hand, adding, for instance, counter lines and organ chords, with human voices, his own instruments, or with several instruments, to the clanking, spiritless void that can appear behind the soloist who has nothing but a rhythm section for support and impetus.

Let’s see what prices this record is being sold at on discogs dot com.

$84.21 High
$1.72 Low

$27.94 Average
$23.52 Median

Last sold on Feb 08, 2025 for $30.

As I said before, my dad’s record is in poor condition. Lot’s of crackling throughout the record. The surface has fingerprints and wear marks all over it.

The cover is in terrible condition. With the two sides separated like they are, I had a hard time keeping the record inside when I moved it around.

That’s why, we’re going to stop here and give it my dad’s electrical tape treatment.

(pause for taping of the taping)

All this does is help me keep a better handle on the record itself, it most certainly doesn’t increase the value.

So I’ll value my dad’s vinyl at a dime.

Next up is a song written by several famous musicians.

[Music: I’m Beginning To See The Light]

I’m Beginning To See The Light
written by Duke Ellington, Harry James, Johnny Hodges, and Don George

Let’s learn a little about the band leader and the featured trumpet player.

Gerald Joseph Mulligan was born in Queens Village, Queens, New York April 6, 1927. Also known as Jeru, he was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz—Mulligan was also a significant arranger working with Claude Thornhill, Miles Davis, Stan Kenton, and others. His piano-less quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the best cool jazz ensembles. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments. Several of his compositions including “Walkin’ Shoes” and “Five Brothers”, have become standards.

His musical journey brought him through some fame and the usual heroin addiction I seem to talk about with jazz musicians. His musical life is actually fascinating as I spent a lot of time on his Wikipedia page.

He continued recording until his death in Darien, Connecticut, on January 20, 1996 following complications from knee surgery. His widow Franca–to whom he had been married since 1982–said he had also been suffering from liver cancer.

Gerry Mulligan was 68

That was the sax player and band leader. Now for the featured trumpet player.

Chesney Henry “Chet” Baker Jr. was born December 23, 1929 in Yale, Oklahoma, and raised in a musical household. was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the “Prince of Cool”.

Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals: Chet Baker Sings (1954) and It Could Happen to You (1958). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker’s early career as “James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one”.

Baker performed with Vido Musso and Stan Getz before being chosen by Charlie Parker for a series of West Coast engagements.

In 1952, Baker joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and attracted considerable attention. Rather than playing identical melody lines in unison like Parker and Gillespie, Baker and Mulligan complemented each other with counterpoint and anticipating what the other would play next.

His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame. Baker was in and out of jail frequently before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Early on May 13, 1988, Baker was found dead on the street below his room in Hotel Prins Hendrik, Amsterdam, with serious wounds to his head, apparently having fallen from the second-story window. Heroin and cocaine were found in his room and in his body. No evidence of a struggle was found, and the death was ruled an accident. According to another account, he inadvertently locked himself out of his room and fell while attempting to cross from the balcony of the vacant room adjacent to his own.

Chet Baker was 58.

Next up is a song written by Mulligan that uses his nickname as the title.

[Music: Jeru]

Jeru
written by Gerry Mulligan

Time now for this episode’s interesting side note and it has to do with the birth of the cool.

Cool jazz was a new style of jazz that started around 1948. It was softer and smoother than the loud and fast bebop music that was popular before. Musicians like Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, and Chet Baker played cool jazz with relaxed melodies, light drumming, and smooth harmonies. The music felt calm and laid-back, like a warm breeze instead of a storm. It often used unusual instrument combinations, like a tuba or a French horn, to create a soft and unique sound.

This style was something new because it changed how jazz sounded and felt. Instead of showing off fast and complicated solos, cool jazz focused on blending instruments together to make a mellow and beautiful sound. Gerry Mulligan, who played the baritone saxophone, was one of the most important musicians in this movement. He helped shape cool jazz by writing music that used space and silence in creative ways. He also started a famous band with trumpeter Chet Baker that did not use a piano, which was unusual for jazz at the time.

At first, not everyone liked cool jazz. Some bebop musicians thought it was too soft and didn’t have enough energy. But critics and fans who enjoyed smoother music loved it. Many people in California, where the style became very popular, thought it was perfect for the relaxed, sunny atmosphere. Over time, cool jazz influenced many other kinds of music, and today, it is remembered as one of the most important jazz styles in history.

Next up, a double shot from the same composers…with tea and crumpets?

[Music: Cherry]
[Music: Tea For Two]

That was Tea For Two

And before that we heard Cherry
Both written by Don Redman and Ray Gilbert

Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.

This was a recording of some talented musicians and not just the two who I talked about.

Also appearing on this recording were
Bob Whitlock on Bass and
Chico Hamilton on Drums for
Frenesi and Lullaby of Leaves among others on the album

It was
Carson Smith on Bass and
Larry Bunker on Drums for all of the other tracks you heard.

Good stuff and I know I’ll be listening to this episode a ton while I’m out on my summer bike rides.

I don’t think I remember this album cover from my growing up days in the house.

And I’m sure I would have because of the artwork on the front. Other than the words Gerry Mulligan Quartet and Pacific Jazz Records, the cover consists of artwork from Keith Finch. His short bio is on the back.

The abstract painting used fiery oranges and deep reds in swirls and some straight lines and other shapes.

Also according to the back cover, you could have ordered reproductions of the painting suitable for framing at fifty cents per copy, post paid. I wonder how many they sold?

And finally, another song many of you should know the melody to.

[Music: Makin’ Whoopee]

Makin’ Whoopee
written by Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson

And there you have selections from one of the albums released during the birth of the cool.

So thanks for tuning into Volume 217: Gerry and Chet

however you did. If you want more information about this SHOW, head over to spinning my dad’s vinyl dot com.

I’ll be back next week with all my skips, scratches, and pops

FOR Volume 218: Rock and Roll Connie

Until then,
Go with the flow my friends.