Line for Lyons Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan – 1952

Gerry Mulligan again employs lovely counter melody polyphony in his arrangement of ‘Line for Lyons’ (see also ‘Jeru’ Link). We should always try and have our bass line as interesting as the melody! A simplified bass line is offered in the first eight bars. Try playing variations on the melody while maintaining the spirit of the piece.

Difficulty = Straightforward 


YouTube link

Line for Lyons
Line for Lyons
Line for Lyons

There is a wonderful collection of original Gerry Mulligan manuscripts at the Library of Congress web site (loc.gov)

This content is from David Sharp's Jazz for Piano, preserved as part of his musical legacy by the New York Jazz Workshop.