His recent performance video may be untitled, but from a drummer’s standpoint, it’s saying a lot. Gerry Gibbs pays the bills playing various forms of jazz, and has swung his proverbial behind off with Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and other luminaries. And as a leader, he’s released several albums that defy easy description. But for fun he records videos that also aren’t easily pigeonholed, with cohorts including Terry Bozzio. Recently Gibbs presented a nine-minute tour-de-force of soloing with brushes, sticks, fingers, and imagination. The untitled piece, which is viewable on YouTube (search “Gerry Gibbs Drum Channel Video 1”) and on his Facebook page, is a through-composed electronic fun-ride that features some truly inventive drum soloing over his own computer-generated music programming, which at first sounds like a keyboard section from your favorite 1970s progressive-rock group. “I’m writing music for a new quintet—vibes, flute, piano, bass, and drums—with string quartet,” said […]

July 2020 Issue