More Mulligan

Speaking of Mulligan, he and Chet had several things in common: a similar musical approach, massive egos and drugs. In view of the last two factors, it's a miracle that they ever got together long enough to produce anything at all. Although apparently on stage they were super cool, because they were both stoned, so maybe their habits helped them to stay together, even for a relatively short time.

Mulligan Ten-tette

I was listening today to the Gerry Mulligan Ten-tette, with the slightly weird line-up of 2 trumpets, 2 baritones, alto, trombone, french horn, tuba, bass and drums. That's ten isn't it? Yes. Good arrangements, bit of quirky Mulligan piano, but the thing that sticks out for me is Chet's playing, which is very authoritative and confident. The other trumpet player is Pete Candoli, who was well-known as an immaculate lead player for Woody Herman and many studio bands. Quite a different approach from Chet's, though the two seem to fit together very well in this context.

Could Chet read music?

Although some people, including Jack Sheldon, claimed that Chet was entirely an instinctive player, I am inclined to believe Russ Freeman, Chet's pianist in the 50s, that the trumpeter could read quite well (he did play in an army band after all), although his sight-reading was perhaps not up to Hollywood studio standard. Freeman goes on to say that Chet had little or no formal knowledge of harmony, which makes his improvisational skills, with their sophisticated harmonic explorations, all the more remarkable.