AVID Jazz here presents four classic Terry Gibbs albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Terry Gibbs”; “Mallets A Plenty”; “Vibes On Velvet” and “A Jazz Band Ball”
Vibraphonist Terry Gibbs may not be up there with the vibes “legends” Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson in terms of long term fame and recognition, but as a Down Beat and Metronome vibes poll winner many times during the fifties he was certainly one of the most popular of his time. And he is still going strong! “Terry Gibbs” kicks us off with a quartet formation with Gibbs being joined by long time sidekick and personal discovery Miss Terry Pollard on piano and occasional duetting vibes. Miss Pollard also bought into the band Herman Wright on bass and completing the line up, Nils Bertil Dahlander a.k.a. Bert Dale one of Sweden’s foremost modern jazzmen on drums. Mix in some fine ballads and you have “as complete a representation as you could wish for of the Gibbs talent in every mood, from extrovert to introvert”. For “Mallets A Plenty” Mr Gibbs primarily gets back to what arguably he does best and what he is best known for…..swingin’! Joined once again by Miss Terry Pollard on piano plus Jerry Segal on drums with Herman Wright again on bass. Next we have “Vibes On Velvet” another fine album of beautifully arranged ballads, Gibbs again taking time out from his usual full and assertive approach to tackle more Manny Alban arrangements. “A Jazz Band Ball” could have been called A Vibes Summit as it uniquely features not one, not two but three vibes players! Here we have three top mallet men, Terry Gibbs, Vic Feldman and Larry Bunker getting together to “explore the potential of the vibraphone, xylophone and marimba”. With arrangements by Marty Paich and a “propelling rhythm section of Lou Levy on piano, Max Bennett on bass and Mel Lewis on drums……………….rounding out a sizzling sextet which caught the mood of the project from the start and proceeded with inspiration……” As the original liner notes also concluded, “fortunately and through it all the spirit de jazz is consistently maintained!
CD1
1-9: ‘Terry Gibbs’
1. Seven Come Eleven
2. Lonely Dreams
3. Dickie’s Dream
4. Imagination
5. King City Stomp
6. Pretty Face
7. The Continental
8. Bless My Soles
9. Nutty Notes
10-17: ‘Mallets A Plenty’
10. Nothing To It
11. Mean To Me
12. Haunted
13. Er-Bee-I
14. Gibberish
15. I’ll Remember April
16. Soupy’s On
17. Then It Happens
CD2
1-12: ‘Vibes On Velvet’
1. Autumn Nocturne
2. Lonesome Streets
3. Adios
4. Leaving Town
5. For You, For Me, For Evermore
6. The Moon Was Yellow
7. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
8. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
9. Mood Indigo
10. It Might As Well Be Spring
11. Lullabye Of Spring
12. Two Sparkling Eyes
13-22: ‘A Jazz Band Ball’
13. The Dipsy Doodle
14. Where Or When
15. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You
16. Hollywood Blues
17. Tangerine
18. Just Friends
19. Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
20. Memories Of You
21. Broadway
22. Allen’s Alley
