Bob Whitlock

Peggy Lee: Too Marvelous for Words

Read "Too Marvelous for Words" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
June 30, 2026

“Every musician in town wanted that gig... She got whoever she wanted, because she was so good." --pianist Lou Levy, as quoted by James Gavin in Is That All There Is?: The Strange Life of Peggy Lee (Atria Books, 2014) Born Norma Deloris Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1920, Peggy Lee survived a harsh childhood through music. In 1936, she began singing on KOVC radio in Valley City, North Dakota. She later hosted her own ...

Interview

Bob Whitlock (1931-2015)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 1, 2015

Von “Bob" Whitlock, a West Coast jazz bassist and the last surviving original member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet who joined the influential piano-less group in the summer of 1952, died yesterday in Long Beach, Calif., of a stroke. He was 84. Without a piano in the Mulligan quartet, Bob had to work doubly hard to create not only the metronome-like time-keeping tempo but also play piano-like treble runs when gaps in the music needed fills. In fact, Bob was ...
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Interview

Interview: Bob Whitlock (Part 3)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 9, 2012

In the history of post-war jazz, Gerry Mulligan may well have been one of the finest all-around musicians, leaders and arrangers. But he wasn't the nicest guy in the world. Which is easy to understand. Constantly creating a vision, finding musicians to execute that vision and making a success of it—is akin to being the CEO of a start-up. A lot of courage is needed along with high standards and an ego the size of a house. [Photo above of ...
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Interview

Interview: Bob Whitlock (Part 4)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 9, 2012

For years, bassist Bob Whitlock has been blamed for getting Chet Baker hooked on heroin in 1952. Bob is named in several books as being the one who set Baker on his ruinous path. The problem is, according to Bob, it's not true. They were together when it happened, but Bob says he didn't encourage Baker to try it or even want him to do so. [Recent photo above of Bob Whitlock by Leslie Westbrook] In Part 4 of my ...
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Interview

Interview: Bob Whitlock (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 7, 2012

Sixty years ago this month, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet was formed. Original members were Mulligan on baritone sax, Chet Baker on trumpet, Bob Whitlock on bass and Chico Hamilton on drums. Much of the credit for the group goes to Bob Whitlock. If not for him, the quartet may never have been—or at least not in its famed formation. [Photo above, from left: Bob Whitlock, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan] Bob is the one who introduced his roommate and trumpeter ...
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Interview

Interview: Bob Whitlock (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
August 6, 2012

Bassist Bob Whitlock is so far off the grid there isn't even a Wikipedia page for him or a tribute site. An original member of the piano-less Gerry Mulligan Quartet in 1952 and '53, Bob helped establish a new way of playing bass in a small group on the West Coast—light, bright and conversational rather than merely keeping time. In Part 1 of my five-part interview with Bob, 81, the California bassist talks about growing up in Utah and why ...
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