Correspondence: Crow On Mulligan And Rome

I asked bassist Bill Crow what he remembered about the Gerry Mulligan Sextet concert that is the subject of the next exhibit, posted yesterday. Here is his response:

I was delighted to see and hear the sextet again. That was such a good band. I had forgotten about the large orchestra behind us. I think it was a concert, but it could also have been a TV show. We went over on the Andrea Doria (the year before it sank) to Naples, then played Rome, Milan, Bologna, and Genoa, and then a small Mercedes-Benz bus took us to Paris, where we were one of the acts on the bill at the Olympia Theatre for three weeks. On our off nights they ran us out to Lyons, Rouen and Roubaix for concerts in movie theaters. We returned home on one of the Queens, and the sextet finished the album we had begun before we left, played a couple of more nightclubs on the circuit, and then Gerry and I had a disagreement in Providence and I left the band.

He called me again later when he formed the quartet with Art Farmer, and I left that group when they went to California. I rejoined when the Concert Jazz Band came back from Europe and Conte (Candoli) and Buddy Clark left to go home to California. Stayed with the quartet with Brookmeyer until I left after another disagreement with Gerry in Chicago, and that was the end of my time with Mulligan groups. It was a great experience, and I was glad to go on and do some other things.

You will find a link to Mr. Crow's web site in the Other Places section of the right-hand column. It is always worth a visit.