Phil Hill
In 1948, he was hired by Phil Hill to join his bebop trio, with Abe Woodly on vibraphone, as the first house band at Detroit's Blue Bird Inn jazz club. The following year, Hill and Mardigan were joined by Wardell Gray, James “Beans” Richardson on bass and Jack Tiant on bongos, and, as the Phil Hill Quintet, recorded a live album on July 20, 1949. The following April, the Wardell Gray Quartet, with Hill, Richardson and Mardigan recorded for Prestige.