Mulligan started on the piano before learning clarinet and the various saxophones. His initial reputation was as an arranger. In 1944 he wrote charts for Johnny Warrington's radio band and soon was making contributions to the books of Tommy Tucker and George Paxton. He moved to New York in 1946 and joined Gene Krupa's Orchestra as a staff arranger; his most notable chart was "Disc Jockey Jump." The rare times he played with Krupa's band was on alto and the same situation existed when he was with Claude Thornhill in 1948.
Gerry Mulligan's first notable recorded work on baritone was with Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool nonet (1948-50) but once again his arrangements ("Godchild," "Darn That Dream" and three of his originals "Jeru," "Rocker" and "Venus de Milo") were more significant than his short solos. Mulligan spent much of 1949 writing for Elliot Lawrence's orchestra and playing anonymously in the saxophone section. It was not until 1951 that he began to get a bit of attention for his work on baritone. Mulligan recorded with his own nonet for Prestige, displaying an already recognizable sound. After he traveled to Los Angeles, he wrote some arrangements for Stan Kenton (including "Youngblood," "Swing House" and "Walking Shoes"), worked at the Lighthouse and then gained a regular Monday night engagement at the Haig. Around this time Mulligan realized that he enjoyed the extra freedom of soloing without a pianist. He jammed with trumpeter Chet Baker and soon their magical rapport was featured in his piano-less quartet. The group caught on quickly in 1952 and made both Mulligan and Baker into stars.
A drug bust put Mulligan out of action and ended that quartet but, when he was released from jail in 1954, Mulligan began a new musical partnership with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer that was just as successful. Trumpeter Jon Eardley and Zoot Sims on tenor occasionally made the group a sextet and in 1958 trumpeter Art Farmer was featured in Mulligan's Quartet. Being a very flexible player with respect for other stylists, Mulligan went out of his way to record with some of the great musicians he admired. At the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival he traded off with baritonist Harry Carney on "Prima Bara Dubla" while backed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and during 1957-60 he recorded separate albums with Thelonious Monk, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges. Mulligan played on the classic Sound of Jazz television special in 1958 and appeared in the movies I Want to Live and The Subterraneans.
During 1960-64 Mulligan led his Concert Jazz Band which gave him an opportunity to write, play baritone and occasionally double on piano. The orchestra at times included Brookmeyer, Sims, Clark Terry and Mel Lewis. Mulligan was a little less active after the big band broke up but he toured extensively with the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1968-72), had a part-time big band in the 1970s (the Age of Steam), doubled on soprano for a period, led a mid-'70s sextet that included vibraphonist Dave Samuels, and in 1986 jammed on a record with Scott Hamilton. In the 1990s he toured the world with his excellent "no-name" quartet and led a "Rebirth of the Cool Band" that performed and recorded remakes of the Miles Davis Nonet classics. Up until the end, Gerry Mulligan was always eager to play. Gerry Mulligan died on January 20th, 1996 in Darien, CT.
Among Mulligan's compositions were "Walkin' Shoes," "Line for Lyons," "Bark for Barksdale," "Nights at the Turntable," "Utter Chaos," "Soft Shoe," "Bernie's Tune," "Blueport," "Song for Strayhorn," "Song for an Unfinished Woman" and "I Never Was a Young Man" (which he often sang). He recorded extensively through the years for such labels as Prestige, Pacific Jazz, Capitol, Vogue, EmArcy, Columbia, Verve, Milestone, United Artists, Philips, Limelight, A&M, CTI, Chiaroscuro, Who's Who, DRG, Concord and GRP. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Star Dust
Gerry Mulligan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
The lyrics to Gerry Mulligan Quartet's song Stardust are a beautiful and poignant ode to lost love and the pain and nostalgia that comes with it. The first verse refers to the end of the day, the time when the sun has set and darkness is creeping in, symbolizing the end of a relationship. The purple dusk that steals across the meadows of the singer's heart suggests a sense of melancholy and sadness that he feels as he realizes that his love is gone. The little stars that climb high up in the sky are a reminder of his beloved's absence, a poignant symbol of the distance between them, both physical and emotional.
In the next verse, the singer meditates on the lonely nights he spends dreaming of a song that reminds him of his lost love. The melody haunts his reverie, taking him back to a time when their love was new and each kiss was an inspiration. But that was long ago, and now he finds his solace in the stardust of a song, a beautiful metaphor for the memory of love's refrain. The third and final verse speaks of the singer's enduring love for his lost love, even as he knows that it is a dream he can never realize. Despite his heartache, the memory of their love will remain with him forever, a testimony to the power of love and the deep emotional impact it has on our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
The time of day when the sun has set and the sky turns purple, a poignant moment emblematic of twilight's sentiment
Steals across the meadows of my heart
The feeling of twilight takes over the singer's heart, perhaps a feeling of sadness or nostalgia
High up in the sky the little stars climb
The stars rise into the night sky, a reminder of how small we are in the universe
Always reminding me that we're apart
The stars, ever-present, remind the artist of their separation from someone they love
You wander down the lane and far away
The one the artist loves has gone away, physically and emotionally
Leaving me a song that will not die
Despite the person's absence, they have left something behind that will never fade or go away
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The love that once was has now turned into just a memory, a part of the past that can't be brought back
The music of the years gone by.
The memories of love have turned into a song that will follow the artist through their life
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The artist is reflecting on their life and wondering how they've spent their time
The lonely nights
Nights where the artist feels alone and isolated
Dreaming of a song
While alone, the singer dreams of a song that connects them to the past
The melody
The tune of the song
Haunts my reverie
The song follows the singer constantly, a constant reminder of the past
And I am once again with you
The song brings back memories of the person they love
When our love was new
The memories are from a time when the love was young and fresh
And each kiss an inspiration
The love was a source of inspiration
But that was long ago
The love is a distant memory from the past
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
The song now brings comfort to the singer where the love once did
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
Next to the garden wall on a clear night where the stars are easily visible
You are in my arms
The artist is holding the person they love
The nightingale
A bird that sings a beautiful song
Tells his fairytale
The bird's song sounds like a fairytale, a perfect moment in time
Of paradise, where roses grew
The song brings to mind an image of paradise with roses
Though I dream in vain
Despite wanting it to come true, the artist knows the dream won't become a reality
In my heart it will remain
Despite being just a dream, the memory will stay with the singer
My stardust melody
The song, a reminder of love, now a part of the night sky with the stars
The memory of love's refrain.
The song, a reminder of the past, of love that once was
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, JOHN HUTCHINSON DEAN, MATTHEW EVERITT, SIMON IAN WHITE, STUART BLACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Buitre D'ANGIÒ
Stardust. Esecuzione emozionante. Gerry-Chet, un'accoppiata Jazz perfetta!!!
Liam Watson
Gee this is better than the Gene Krupa version where Charlie Ventura played the bass sax. A baritone makes more sense for ballads.
Raul Martinez
🥶