Mick Mulligan
Encyclopedia
Peter Sidney "Mick" Mulligan (24 January 1928, Harrow
, Middlesex
- 20 December 2006, Chichester
, West Sussex
) was an English
jazz
trumpet
er and bandleader
, best known for his presence on the trad jazz
scene.
Mulligan began playing trumpet while a student at Merchant Taylors' School
. He entered into the family wine
company, but was an alcoholic and eventually was pushed out of the business by his relatives. He then formed his own Magnolia Jazz Band in 1948. He met George Melly
soon after; they performed together for many years and became close associates. In Melly's memoir Owning Up, published in 1965, he detailed many of the pair's drunken and scandalous outings, which had made them regular tabloid figures in the 1950s.
Mulligan's orchestra included Roy Crimmins
, Ian Christie, and Archie Semple
; it rivaled Humphrey Lyttelton
's in popularity on the British trad jazz circuit. While he booked excellent sidemen, Mulligan was not a top-flight musician and his own playing was often hampered by intoxication; furthermore, their recording legacy is spotty because their releases were irregular and generally for small labels. Mulligan broke up his band in 1953 but reformed it a year and a half later, continuing with the new group in 1962; Melly also sang along with this ensemble. In January 1963, the British
music magazine, NME
reported that the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain
had taken place at Alexandra Palace
. The event included Melly, Diz Disley
, Acker Bilk, Chris Barber
, Kenny Ball
, Ken Colyer
, Monty Sunshine
, Bob Wallis
, Bruce Turner
, Alex Welsh
and Mulligan.
By the early 1960s, rock and roll
had whittled the enthusiasm for trad jazz to nearly nothing, and Mulligan ended the Magnolia Jazz Band to manage Melly, who was launching a solo career. He played occasionally into the 1970s, but primarily retired to run a grocery store
. Later in life he became interested in horse racing
, and owned the prize-winning horse, Forever My Lord.
Harrow, London
Harrow is an area in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, United Kingdom. It is a suburban area and is situated 12.2 miles northwest of Charing Cross...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
- 20 December 2006, Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
) was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, best known for his presence on the trad jazz
Trad jazz
Trad jazz - short for "traditional jazz" - refers to the Dixieland and Ragtime jazz styles of the early 20th century in contrast to any more modern style....
scene.
Mulligan began playing trumpet while a student at Merchant Taylors' School
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
. He entered into the family wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
company, but was an alcoholic and eventually was pushed out of the business by his relatives. He then formed his own Magnolia Jazz Band in 1948. He met George Melly
George Melly
Alan George Heywood Melly was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for The Observer and lectured on art history, with an emphasis on surrealism.-Early life and career:He was born in Liverpool and was educated at Stowe...
soon after; they performed together for many years and became close associates. In Melly's memoir Owning Up, published in 1965, he detailed many of the pair's drunken and scandalous outings, which had made them regular tabloid figures in the 1950s.
Mulligan's orchestra included Roy Crimmins
Roy Crimmins
Roy Crimmins is an English jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.Of Irish and Scottish descent, Crimmins turned professional by joining the Mick Mulligan band in 1952. Originally self-taught, Roy was later mentored by the American bass trombonist with the Philarmonia Orchestra, Ray Premru, and...
, Ian Christie, and Archie Semple
Archie Semple
Archibald Stuart Nisbet "Archie" Semple was a Scottish jazz clarinetist active principally within the trad jazz idiom....
; it rivaled Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...
's in popularity on the British trad jazz circuit. While he booked excellent sidemen, Mulligan was not a top-flight musician and his own playing was often hampered by intoxication; furthermore, their recording legacy is spotty because their releases were irregular and generally for small labels. Mulligan broke up his band in 1953 but reformed it a year and a half later, continuing with the new group in 1962; Melly also sang along with this ensemble. In January 1963, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
reported that the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
had taken place at Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...
. The event included Melly, Diz Disley
Diz Disley
Diz Disley was an Anglo-Canadian jazz guitarist and graphic designer. He is best known for his jazz guitar playing, strongly influenced by Django Reinhardt, and for his collaborations with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli....
, Acker Bilk, Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
, Kenny Ball
Kenny Ball
Kenny Ball is an English jazz musician, best known as the lead trumpet player in Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.-Career:...
, Ken Colyer
Ken Colyer
Kenneth Colyer was a British jazz trumpeter and cornetist, devoted totally to New Orleans jazz. His band was also known for skiffle interludes.-Biography:...
, Monty Sunshine
Monty Sunshine
Monty Sunshine was an English jazz clarinetist, whose main claim to fame was his clarinet solo on the track "Petite Fleur", a million seller for the Chris Barber Jazz Band in 1959...
, Bob Wallis
Bob Wallis
Robert 'Bob' Wallis was a British jazz musician, who had a handful of chart success in the early 1960s, during the UK traditional jazz boom.-Biography:...
, Bruce Turner
Bruce Turner
Bruce Turner was an English saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader.Born Malcolm Bruce Turner in Saltburn, he learned to play the clarinet as a schoolboy and began playing alto sax while serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II...
, Alex Welsh
Alex Welsh
Alex Welsh was a Scottish jazz musician, who played the cornet, trumpet and sang.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh started playing in the teenage 'Leith Silver Band' and gigged with Archie Semple's 'Capital Jazz Band'. After moving to London in the early 1950s, Welsh formed his own band...
and Mulligan.
By the early 1960s, rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
had whittled the enthusiasm for trad jazz to nearly nothing, and Mulligan ended the Magnolia Jazz Band to manage Melly, who was launching a solo career. He played occasionally into the 1970s, but primarily retired to run a grocery store
Grocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
. Later in life he became interested in horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, and owned the prize-winning horse, Forever My Lord.
External links
- [ Mick Mulligan] at Allmusic