Gerry Mulligan & Art Farmer Quartet - Live In Rome 1959
Gerry Mulligan & Art Farmer Quartet - Live In Rome 1959
01. Announcement by Gerry Mulligan/Tuning up 02. As Catch Can 03. Walking Shoes 04. Baubles, Bangles And Beads 05. Just In Time 06. I Can’t Get Started 07. News From Blueport 08. Moonlight In Vermont 09. Spring Is Sprung 10. Utter Chaos Baritone Saxophone – Gerry Mulligan Bass – Bill Crow Drums – Dave Bailey Trumpet – Art Farmer
European television did a better job at archiving live jazz than American stations during the 1950s and '60s, as evidenced by the outpouring of DVDs of European broadcasts. The music from this 1959 appearance by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet in Rome has been widely circulated on LP and CD in various forms, but seeing the black-and-white video footage to go along with the music will be incentive for Mulligan fans to seek out this edition. The video is generally well-preserved with relatively few flaws in the aged source material, and while the camera work is odd at times (such as focusing on the upper third of the leader's body instead of showing his hands, or showing the musicians' shadows on the screen instead of focusing on them), at least there isn't the MTV-like rapid-fire flitting from one angle to the next every few seconds. Mulligan does get annoyed with the audio technician when he has difficulty with the microphone announcing the first song, though the problem is quickly corrected. The baritonist's intricate counterpoint with trumpeter Art Farmer is magical, while the leader's witty solos are also a highlight. ---Ken Dryden, AllMusic Review
This phenomenal 71-minute release features one of the seminal performances of Gerry Mulligan's inimitable piano-less quartet with the oustanding trumpeter Art Farmer. Recorded at Rome's Adriano Theater on June 19, 1959, the two horn players take advantage of the freedom provided by the absence of the piano to improvise interweaving counterpoint lines with legendary skill.
The final recording of Mulligan's quartet with Farmer, this edition is as important for its historical significance as it is for the extraordinay quality of the music. Also includes the bonus track of Mulligan's composition "Utter Chaos" recorded at the Stockholm concert on May 19, 1959. ---freshsoundrecords.com
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