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In conjunction with saxophonist and longtime collaborator
Dick Morrissey, guitarist
Jim Mullen spearheaded the British jazz-fusion movement of the 1970s. Born November 26, 1945 in Glasgow, Scotland,
Mullen acquired his first guitar at age eight, soon after discovering jazz through an older friend. Although he later studied journalism, he remained a fixture of the local jazz circuit, ultimately forming a group with tenor saxophonist
Malcolm Duncan and keyboardist
Roger Ball.
Mullen relocated to London in 1969, joined Pete Brown's Piblokto!, and then signed on with
Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, cementing his credentials in the nascent jazz-rock culture. Stints with
Vinegar Joe and Kokomo followed, and in the early 1970s he also collaborated with
Duncan and
Ball in their blue-eyed funk unit
the Average White Band. Via
the AWB,
Mullen met
Morrissey, a veteran of the much-respected jazz-rock vehicle
If. In 1977, they teamed as a duo for Up, embracing everything from bop to pop to funk and found favor with listeners on both sides of the jazz-rock dyad via acclaimed efforts such as 1979's Cape Wrath. In all,
Morrissey and
Mullen co-headlined six albums, which increasingly veered towards the mainstream, but never earned the American commercial foothold that would have vaulted their career to the next level.
Morrissey and
Mullen finally split following 1988's Happy Hour, and
Mullen went on to work with vocalist
Claire Martin. He also headlined a series of LPs including Rule of Thumb and Soundbites. An in-demand sideman,
Mullen backed American giants including
Mose Allison,
Jimmy Smith, and
Terry Callier. In the summer of 2000, he reunited with
Morrissey, just months prior to the
Morrissey's death from spinal cancer. ~ Jason Ankeny