Gerald Joseph "
Gerry"
Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996) was an American
jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading
baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of
cool jazz – he was also a notable arranger, working with
Claude Thornhill,
Miles Davis,
Stan Kenton, and others. Mulligan's pianoless quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter
Chet Baker is still regarded as one of the more important cool jazz groups. Mulligan was also a skilled pianist and played several other reed instruments.