Mike Gibbs | |
---|---|
Birth name | Michael Clement Irving Gibbs |
Born | Harare, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) | 25 September 1937
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician Bandleader Composer Arranger Producer |
Instruments | Keyboard Trombone |
Years active | 1960s-Present |
Michael Clement Irving Gibbs (born 25 September 1937) is a Rhodesian-born English jazz composer, conductor, arranger and producer as well as a trombonist and keyboardist. [1]
He is known for collaborations with vibraphonist Gary Burton, his student, and for his use of rock elements in orchestral jazz. [2]
Gibbs was born in Harare, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). [1] He moved to Boston, Massachusetts, United States in 1959, in order to study at the Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory. In 1961, Gibbs took scholarships at the Lennox School of Jazz and later at Tanglewood Music Center. Initially returning to Rhodesia, Gibbs later settled in England. [1]
After recording with Graham Collier, John Dankworth, Kenny Wheeler and Mike Westbrook in the late 1960s, Gibbs released his first album, Michael Gibbs, in 1970. [1] From 1970 to 1974, Gibbs was musical director for the BBC TV comedy programme The Goodies . When he left the UK to take up a teaching position at Berklee, the musical director post was filled by Dave MacRae, a member of the band Gibbs had led in recording funk rock music for the show. After resigning from that teaching position in 1983, Gibbs became a freelance arranger and producer, working variously with Jaco Pastorius, Michael Mantler, Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Whitney Houston, Vladislav Sendecki, Peter Gabriel and Sister Sledge. [1] In 1991, he toured and recorded with John Scofield. [1]
During the years 1999–2000, he worked at the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department in Helsinki where he had a professorship (part-time) in Jazz Composition and Arranging. [3]
On 2 October 2017, Gibbs was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award, [4] in recognition of his unique contribution to music. In 2017, Gibbs was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from his alma mater, Berklee College of Music. [5]
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Seven Songs for Quartet and Chamber Orchestra is an album by jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton recorded in December 1973 and released on ECM August the following year. The quartet, featuring rhythm section Mick Goodrick, Steve Swallow and Ted Seibs, are backed by Michael Gibbs conducting the NDR Symphony Orchestra, who composed most of the music.
In the 1990s in jazz, jazz rap continued progressing from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and incorporated jazz influence into hip hop. In 1988, Gang Starr released the debut single "Words I Manifest", sampling Dizzy Gillespie's 1962 "A Night in Tunisia", and Stetsasonic released "Talkin' All That Jazz", sampling Lonnie Liston Smith. Gang Starr's debut LP, No More Mr. Nice Guy, and their track "Jazz Thing" for the soundtrack of Mo' Better Blues, sampling Charlie Parker and Ramsey Lewis. Gang Starr also collaborated with Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard. Groups making up the collective known as the Native Tongues Posse tended towards jazzy releases; these include the Jungle Brothers' debut Straight Out the Jungle and A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm and The Low End Theory.
Hommage à Eberhard Weber is a live tribute album celebrating German double bassist and composer Eberhard Weber's 75th birthday recorded by the German public broadcaster SWR in Stuttgart in 2015 featuring Pat Metheny, Jan Garbarek, Gary Burton, Scott Colley, Danny Gottlieb, Paul McCandless, with Michael Gibbs and Helge Sunde conducting the SWR Big Band which was released on the ECM label.