Many renowned jazz musicians can be heard on the 10 CDs in this collection, but it is Gerry Mulligan’s work as arranger, composer and baritone saxophone player that is the focus. It took time for the rather ponderous, darkertoned baritone saxophone to achieve recognition as a solo instrument, but Mulligan played it with a lightness and elegance previously unknown. Born in New York, the youngest of four brothers, Gerald Joseph “Gerry” Mulligan lived even as a teenager in several different places in the USA and learnt to play in succession the piano, clarinet, alto, tenor and finally baritone saxophone. Our box is a presentation of 19 original albums which will be a real treasure chest for every jazz enthusiast, with guest appearances by Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, Ben Webster and many others. Mulligan is regarded as the trail blazer of what has become known as West Coast jazz. From the end of the 1950s he also wrote film music and founded his 13-strong concert jazz band, which became the leading big band of the early 1960s both live and on records.
