In 1992, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan was on tour in Europe with a with a trio, featuring Harold Danko on piano, Dean Johnson on bass and Ron Vincent on drums. In April, they stopped in Bologna, Italy, where their performance was recorded.
Now, for the first time, Italy's Red Records has put out the previously unreleased performance in two formats: a double CD set or two LPs.
As Harold Danko (above) told me in an email:
"Thankfully it's not a bootleg, and the sidemen were actually paid. When first contacted by Red Records, I didn't even remember doing that tour with Gerry and thought they had confused me with Bill Mays or Bill Charlap. Then I heard the tracks and Gerry announce me. So there I was.
"Since I played with Gerry mostly in the 1980s, I must have been a sub for his regular pianist, but I'm very glad to have been part of this document because the repertoire included many tunes Gerry wrote later in his career. In addition, Gerry was in great form. Dean and Ron were very familiar with the material but much of the music was new to me."
The tracks (all by Gerry Mulligan except My Funny Valentine and Take the A Train:
DISC 1
1 The Flying Scotsman
2 Lonesome Boulevard
3 Curtains
4 Line for Lyons
5 My Funny Valentine
6 A Gift for Dizzy
DISC 2
1 Take the A Train
2 Out Back of the Barn
3 Midas Lives
4 Song for Strayhorn
5 Sun on Stairs
6 Walkin’ Shoes
7 Rico Apollo
Mulligan died four years later, in 1996. He was 68.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Gerry Mulligan's Nocturne on streaming platforms such as YouTube or on vinyl and CD here and here, respectively, or at Amazon here.
JazzWax clips: Here's The Flying Scotsman...
Here's Line for Lyons...
Here's Out Back of the Barn...
And here's Take the A Train, with great work by Harold...
Bonus: Here's Harold Danko playing In Walked Bud from his Mirth Song album in 1982...
