| Jazz |
As Terry Gibbs celebrates his 100th birthday this October 13th, here is an album that rises from its ashes for the joy of all jazz fans: *The Lost Tapes, 1959 (Whaling City Sound)*. A lost recording, rediscovered, restored, and, to be honest, the only giveaway of its age is the color of the tube-based mixing consoles of the time. Otherwise, the recording is incredibly clean, making it a true archival document.
Terry Gibbs and his son, drummer, bandleader, and co-curator Gerry Gibbs, thought they had exhausted all surviving documentation of Terry’s swing-bop big band with the release of *Volume 6: One More Time* in 2002. (Volumes 1 to 5 were released between 1986 and 1991.) Then, earlier this year, Terry Gibbs found a file titled “1959 Jazz Party” in his son’s computer archives.
“I said, ‘What the heck is this?’” he recalls. “So, I played it, and it was the Dream Band.” Gibbs had booked the group in the winter of 1959 at Club Seville on the Sunset Strip to rehearse for a recording session without breaking union rules; when they packed the house, they were asked to stay. After a few weeks, they moved to the Sundown, another club on the Strip, where they remained for about a year.
During that period, Gibbs assembled a repertoire from an incredible list of arrangers, whose talent shines here: Bob Brookmeyer (“Don’t Be That Way”), Al Cohn (“Cottontail”), Marty Paich (“Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise”), and the band’s tenor players, Med Flory (“Flying Home”) and Bill Holman (“Begin the Beguine”). “I spoke with my arrangers,” Gibbs explains in the liner notes for *Volume 7*, “and I wanted arrangements that showcased the orchestra as a whole.”
A “Dream Band” that truly lives up to its name, modern for its time, and providing insights that influenced today’s jazz—especially in how the brass sections are handled. Terry Gibbs was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 13, 1924, as Julius Gubenko. Coming from a family of musicians (his father was a violin teacher and conductor), he leaned toward percussion by playing his older brother Sol’s xylophone. He took lessons with drummer-percussionist Fred Albright at the age of 9, won a radio talent contest at 12, and went on tour with singer Judy Kayne’s band at 16.
A life filled with passion for music, alongside musicians who were equally thrilling and dedicated, with a groove that would make many artists envious—what more could you ask for? Perhaps most fascinating are Gibbs’ collaborations, which over the years must have brought him great joy. The list of names on Gibbs’ résumé reads like a Jazz Hall of Fame directory, from Benny Goodman to Ray Charles to Alice Coltrane. He led quartets, quintets, sextets, and big bands, including house bands for Mel Tormé, Steve Allen, and Jerry Lewis. He recorded sessions for John Lennon and Leonard Cohen, and wrote an award-winning biography in 2003, *Good Vibes: A Life in Jazz*, before retiring from the stage at the age of 92. However, Gibbs continues to lead an active life, appearing weekly on Facebook with his “TG Q&A Show.”
If you love jazz and are passionate about those who helped shape its evolution, for all these reasons, this album is truly “Indispensable.”
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, October 6th 2024
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