Michael Gibbs (composer)

Last updated

Mike Gibbs
Birth nameMichael Clement Irving Gibbs
Born (1937-09-25) 25 September 1937 (age 86)
Harare, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Bandleader
Composer
Arranger
Producer
InstrumentsKeyboard
Trombone
Years active1960s-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]

Contents

He is known for collaborations with vibraphonist Gary Burton, his student, and for his use of rock elements in orchestral jazz. [2]

Career

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]

Discography

As leader

Scores

As sideman

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Scofield</span> American jazz guitarist and composer (born 1951)

John Scofield is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings, and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino, and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummers Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov't Mule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Metheny</span> American jazz guitarist and composer (born 1954)

Patrick Bruce Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Frisell</span> American jazz guitarist (born 1951)

William Richard Frisell is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant in the Downtown Scene in New York City, where he formed a long working relationship with composer and saxophonist John Zorn. He was also a longtime member of veteran drummer Paul Motian's groups from the early 1980s until Motian's death in 2011. Since the late 1990s, Frisell's output as a bandleader has also integrated prominent elements of folk, country, rock ‘n’ roll and Americana. He has six Grammy nominations and one win.

Mick Goodrick was an American jazz guitarist who spent most of his career as a teacher. In the early 1970s, he worked with Gary Burton and Pat Metheny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Burton</span> American vibraphonist

Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be heralded as an innovator, and his sound and technique are widely imitated. He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz, as well as being a major figure in music education from his 30 years teaching at the Berklee College of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Wheeler</span> Canadian composer and musician

Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.

Marc Alan Johnson is an American jazz bass player, composer and band leader. Johnson was born in Nebraska and grew up in Texas. He is married to the Brazilian jazz pianist and singer Eliane Elias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Surman</span> English jazz musician and composer

John Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performances and film soundtracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Smith (saxophonist)</span> Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator

Thomas William Ellis Smith is a Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Marshall (drummer)</span> Musical artist

John Stanley Marshall was an English drummer and founding member of the jazz rock band Nucleus. From 1972 to 1978, he was the drummer for Soft Machine, replacing Phil Howard when he joined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Babbington</span> English rock and jazz bassist

Roy Babbington is an English rock and jazz bassist. He became well known for being a member of the Canterbury scene progressive rock band Soft Machine.

Michael Evans Osborne was an English jazz alto saxophonist, pianist, and clarinetist who was a member of the band Brotherhood of Breath in the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Moses (musician)</span> American jazz drummer

Bob Moses is an American jazz drummer.

Stanley Ernest Sulzmann is an English jazz saxophonist.

Christopher Norman "Chris" Pyne was an English jazz trombonist.

Thomas Henry Lowther is an English jazz trumpeter who also plays violin.

David Ronald Horler is an English jazz trombonist. He is the older brother of John Horler and the father of Cascada’s lead singer Natalie Horler.

<i>Seven Songs for Quartet and Chamber Orchestra</i> 1974 studio album by Gary Burton

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.

<i>Hommage à Eberhard Weber</i> 2015 live album by Eberhard Weber

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Larkin, Colin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 520. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
  2. Duncan Heining. And Did Those Feet … Six British Jazz Composers (2023)
  3. Mike Gibbs Biography Jazzcds.co.uk
  4. "Gold Badge Awards 2017 celebrates British jazz - M Magazine". M-magazine.co.uk. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  5. "Bill Frisell and Michael Gibbs Receive Honorary Degrees". JAZZIZ Magazine. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  6. "Michael Gibbs Discography". Gibbs.onttonen.info. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  7. Weideman, Paul. "MIKE GIBBS + TWELVE "Play Gil Evans (Whirlwind)". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  8. Fordham, John. "Mike Gibbs + Twelve: Play Gil Evans – review". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 March 2014.