To the best of my knowledge, only two musicians formed jazz orchestras they labeled a "dream band." One was trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on the East Coast at Birdland in 1956 and the other was vibraphonist Terry Gibbs on the West Coast at Hollywood clubs from 1958 to 1959. Actually, dream band would be an understatement.
The musicians and soloists were the hottest sight-readers on the two scenes, and the arrangers were top swingers. If pressed on picking a favorite, I'd have to go with Terry, adding the word "killer" in front of his dream band.
In celebration of Terry's 100th birthday on October 13, Whaling City Sound has mastered and released another one of Terry's private recordings of his 16-piece adventure: Terry Gibbs: Dream Band Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959. [Photo above of Terry Gibbs by (c)Ray Avery, courtesy of CTSImages]
Volumes 1 through 5 of Terry's Dream Band series were initially released between 1986 and 1991. Volume 6 came out in 2002, at which point the Gibbs family thought they had exhausted the gold mine. Not so.
While Terry was recently exploring his son's computerized archive, he found a new entry. The album of new material features the band playing live in Hollywood at the Seville Club in March 1959 and at the Sundown Club that November. See what happens, Gerry, when dad has time to roam around on the computer?
And what a Los Angeles band it was. Here's the lineup in March: Al Porcino, Ray Triscari, Conte Candoli and Stu Williamson (tp); Bob Enevoldsen, Vern Friley and Joe Cadena (tb); Joe Maini and Charlie Kennedy (as); Bill Holman and Med Flory (ts); Jack Schwartz (bar); Pete Jolly (p); Terry Gibbs (vib,ldr); Max Bennett (b) and Mel Lewis (d), plus arrangers Marty Paich, Manny Albam, Sy Johnson, Al Cohn and Bob Brookmeyer.
And here's the band in November: John Audino, Conte Candoli, Frank Huggins and Stu Williamson (tp); Bob Burgess, Vern Friley and Bill Smiley (tb); Joe Maini and Charlie Kennedy (as); Bill Perkins and Med Flory (ts); Jack Schwartz (bar); Terry Gibbs (vib,ldr); Lou Levy (p); Buddy Clark (b); Mel Lewis (d) and Bill Holman, Al Cohn, Manny Albam, Lennie Niehaus and Marty Paich (arrangers).
The March 16 tracks, live at the Seville Club in Hollywood:
- I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
- Opus One
- Cottontail
- Let's Dance
- Flying Home
The March 17 track, live at the Seville Club in Hollywood:
- Bright Eyes
The November 1, 2, 8 and 9 tracks, live at the Sundown Club in Hollywood:
- Begin the Beguine
- Back Bay Shuffle
- It Might as Well Be Spring
- My Reverie
- After You've Gone
- The Song Is You
- Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise
- Moonglow
- Don't Be That Way
- Prelude to a Kiss
- Dancing in the Dark
- No Heat
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Terry came up early with a group of musicians who would become spectacular bop players and leaders, including Chubby Jackson, Tiny Kahn, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Don Lamond, Johnny Mandel, Ralph Burns, Earl Swope, Serge Chaloff, Oscar Pettiford and many others from the East Coast. Some of them would wind up in Los Angeles in the 1950s, including Terry, in 1958. [Photo above of Terry Gibbs]
Back in those days, if you were going to call your 16-piece group a "dream band," you had better deliver on the promise. And Terry did, night after night. The only cats who could keep up were giants who lived to play the really wild stuff in all-star big bands. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to sit in the audience and hear such heat.
Today, Terry Gibbs, Sonny Rollins and Roy Haynes are probably the last direct links, participants and eyewitnesses to the great bebop movement of the 1940s. Terry also is the last of the powerhouse jazz-band leaders of the 1950s.
Happy Birthday, Terry!
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Terry Gibbs: Dream Band Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959 (Whaling City Sound) here. You can also listen to sample tracks at the bottom of the landing page. The CD is out now, digital coming on November 8.
JazzWax clips: Here's Bill Holman's arrangement of his composition Bright Eyes...
Here's Bob Brookmeyer's arrangement of Let's Dance...
And here's Med Flory's arrangement of Flying Home...