Gerry Mulligan

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Nick Brignola’s baritone saxophone can be heard on several important jazz recordings beginning in the 1960s. He helped define the role of the baritone saxophone in the contemporary style of jazz of the era, including free and modern jazz. As a young player, Nick surrounded himself with the older veterans of jazz and learned techniques and phrasing from other instruments that helped shape his own unique style.

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Bob Brookmeyer played trombone for several name big bands during the great swing era including Tex Beneke, Claude Thornhill, and Ray McKinley. Bob began focusing on Cool Jazz and West Coast Jazz, playing with the likes of Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. In the late 1960s, Bob moved to Los Angeles and began a second career as a studio musician.

Bill Crow had a long and successful career as a jazz bassist for such Bebop pioneers as Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan. In later years he joined the board for the New York chapter of the Musicians Union, which led to his second career as a writer. He was asked to write a regular column for the union’s newsletter, which he loaded with funny anecdotes he experienced or became aware of over the years.

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Gerry Mulligan helped define the Cool Jazz genre with his rich baritone saxophone style and a series of historic recordings including several with Miles Davis. He played with several big bands and arranged music for the Gene Krupa and Claude Thornhill orchestras during the late 1940s. By 1948, he was playing with Miles Davis with whom he recorded the album Birth of the Cool for Capitol Records. His career also included gigs with Chet Baker and a number of