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Terry Gibbs Dream Band: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959
by Angelo Leonardi
«Non credo che ci sia mai stata una band migliore di questa, compresa la mia». Mel Lewis espresse queste parole per la mitica orchestra che il vibrafonista Terry Gibbs guidò in California tra il 1959 e il 1961 e fu chiamata “Dream Band" per l'entusiasmo che suscitò tra i fortunati che l'ascoltarono dal vivo. Giudizi così perentori non vanno mai presi alla lettera ma ascoltando queste inedite registrazioni non li giudicherete troppo esagerati. Stan Kenton espresse simili opinioni ...
Continue ReadingTerry Gibbs: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959
by Jack Bowers
In 1959, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and his recently formed big band set up shop at the Seville, a Los Angeles nightclub owned by Harry Schiller. Many of those early sessions were taped, at Gibbs' request, by famed recording engineer Wally Heider before being left on a shelf and forgotten. After two weeks at the Seville, Gibbs and the band moved to a second club, the Sundown. The band was successful, drew large crowds, and was soon recording, first for Norman ...
Continue ReadingTerry Gibbs: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959
by Richard J Salvucci
Someone once asked Terry Gibbs how it was possible that if you took his side men, or some subset of them, and put them together in another band, they never quite sounded as good. Gibbs replied, modestly, that it was all in the arrangers. He got the best arrangers, like Bill Holman, Marty Paich and Med Flory. Others did not. And so the story went. It would have been tempting to ask if, perhaps, Gibbs had ...
Continue ReadingThe View from the Back of the Band: The Life and Music of Mel Lewis
by Chris Smith
The following is an excerpt from “Chapter 13: Opening Night at the Village Vanguard" of The View from the Back of the Band: The Life and Music of Mel Lewis by Chris Smith (University of North Texas Press, 2014). In November of 1965, Thad and Mel quickly put together a list of the musicians they wanted for their band. While Thad had certain friends at CBS that he wanted to hire, and Mel had musicians he wanted, ...
Continue ReadingMel Lewis Jazz Orchestra: The Definitive Thad Jones
by George Kanzler
Recorded in 1988, over two decades after the creation of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and a decade after Jones left the band, this is also its last recording under Lewis' helm (he died two years later, 20 years ago in February, 2010). As such, it reflects Lewis' concept as well as his and the band's adaptations of Jones' charts. The instrumentation is also different than both the early incarnation and today's Vanguard Jazz Orchestra--the brass including two bass ...
Continue ReadingThad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra: Consummation
by C. Andrew Hovan
When it came to progressive big bands during the '60s, few ensembles could boast the kind of staying power and muscle of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. With some of the biggest names in the business as part of the ensemble's regular roster and the uniformly exceptional output of writer Thad Jones, this band was successful at a time when economics were making it hard for even established organizations to stay afloat. Unfortunately, the great legacy of the Thad ...
Continue ReadingThad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra: Consummation
by Jack Bowers
This charming reissue from 1970 makes it even harder to accept the fact that Thad and Mel are no longer with us. Thank goodness we have such glorious music to remember them by. All of the compositions and arrangements are Jones,' and each one is an unpretentious classic of its kind. The orchestra itself is beyond reproach, with sharp and explosive brass and reeds complementing its unrivaled rhythm section (Lewis, pianist Roland Hanna, bassist Richard Davis). There's less ...
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