Gerry Mulligan: Jazz Musician in New York

About Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan was an American jazz musician best known for shaping the baritone saxophone’s role in cool jazz, while also working as a composer and arranger. He built a parallel career writing for major bandleaders and projects, and his early 1950s piano-less quartet with trumpeter Chet Baker became a reference point for small-group balance and counterpoint. Several of his tunes entered the standard repertoire, including “Walkin’ Shoes” and “Five Brothers.” His work is regularly revisited in New York settings such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, where repertory programs frame his light, airy sound with precision over display.