Gerry Mulligan was one of the most influential innovators in jazz history. Not only was he perhaps the greatest baritone saxophonist to ever live, but a brilliantly talented arranger, largely responsible for the birth of the West Coast "cool jazz" style.

Paul Desmond was an alto sax player of equal talent, skyrocketing to fame in the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and responsible for writing the wildly popular hit, "Take Five".

So, perhaps it is no surprise that when these two men of enormous talent get into the studio together, sparks literally fly...in a "cool" sort of way, of course.

Recorded in August 1957, this was Mulligan and Desmond's first collaborative effort. A blend of standards and original compositions like Desmond's "Blues In Time", and Mulligan's hit song "Line For Lyons", Quartet is an absolute classic of Cool.