Terry Gibbs - El Nutto

When I moved back to New York City from California in 1963, my agent had already booked me a 16-week tour and I had to put a quartet together. I called Herman Wright, who played double bass in my quartet with that great female piano player, Terry Pollard, from 1953-1957. Herman and Terry were from Detroit. The first thing that Herman said to me was there was another great female piano player from Detroit who was now living in NY. Her name was Alice McLeod. I don’t usually hire anybody I didn’t know her, but because of what Herman told me I set up a little jam session so I could hear how Alice played jazz, and it had to be bebop because that’s what I heard and played in jazz, and I wanted to hear Alice play bebop. I also had a drummer recommended to me by one of my good drummer friends, and so John Dentz, Herman and I went to a studio that I rented at Nola Studios.

How I usually work my songs is that, after I play the melody, the piano player solos first. After Alice played just 8 bars I knew that I was going to hire her. In 1963 Alice was an out an out be-bopper in the style of Bud Powell. Also John  Dentz gave me what I was looking for: TIME. The more we played the better Alice sounded, she was a quiet shy lady and she got more aggressive as the jam session went on, you can hear her fitting in with everything that I was looking for in a piano player. Alice worked in my band for one year until I introduced her to John Coltrane and saw a love affair happen and that was why Alice left. That one year Alice was in my quartet was really fun playing because she was, as I said before, an out and out be-bopper. *Terry Gibbs*

Before joining vibraphonist Terry Gibbs' quartet in 1962, Detroit-born pianist Alice McLeod played intermissions at the Paris Blue Note and appeared on French TV with saxophonist Lucky Thompson, reaching Gibbs' attention in a duo with vibraphonist Terry Pollard; in the quartet, she became the perfect foil for Gibbs, her understated piano making room for his intense improvisation, stepping up with her own expression when needed. El Nutto captures Alice at her best in this setting, as heard on the reveries of "El Flippo" and the title track, this solid set of Gibbs originals showing her virtuosity, composure, and curiousness, which would soon reach more cosmic highs, once she became Alice Coltrane. *forcedexposure.com*

This would be a routine Terry Gibbs quartet set except for one fact: the pianist is Alice McLeod, who after getting married would change her name to Alice Coltrane. The third of three albums she recorded with Gibbs (decades later, her son Ravi Coltrane would work for the vibraphonist's son, drummer Gerry Gibbs), McLeod sounds fine on ten obscure tunes, all Gibbs originals. Certainly, none of the songs (which include "El Nutto", "The Nightie Night Waltz", "Hey Pretty" and "Just For Laughs") caught on, and their melodies are not particularly memorable, but the solos of Gibbs and the appearance of the pianist make this album of historic interest. *Scott Yanow*

Side 1

1 - Little "S"

2 - El Nutto

3 - The Nightie Night Waltz

4 - The Young Ones

5 - El Flippo

Side 2

6 - Hey Pretty

7 - Sleepy Head Blues

8 - Lonely Days

9 - Little "C"

10 - Just for Laughs

(All compositions by Terry Gibbs)

Terry Gibbs (vibraphone), Alice McLeod [a.k.a. Alice Coltrane] (piano), Herman Wright (bass), John Dentz (drums).

Recorded at A&R Studios, New York City, April 15, 1963.

Terry Gibbs • Sal Nestico - It's Time We Met

Terry Gibbs plays a series of original blues riffs on this sextet session from 1963. The focus is primarily on the vibraphonist and tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico, with Benny Goodman veteran Turk Van Lake on guitar and Nat Pierce (organ), bassist Charlie Andrus and drummer Jake Hanna on loan from the then-current edition of Woody Herman's band. Gibbs and Nistico deliver consistently strong solos, especially in the uptempo cooker "The Tweaker". The substitution of organ for the usual piano in Gibbs' rhythm section adds to the bluesy flavor of the date and while the music is enjoyable, none of the songs is particularly memorable. Reissued by Mainstream as It's Time We Met a few years after the demise of Time, either pressing of this long unavailable album should be considered somewhat difficult to acquire. *Ken Dryden*

As one would expect from looking at the lineup (vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico, guitarist Turk Lake, bassist Charlie Andrus, drummer Jake Hanna and pianist Nat Pierce), swing is the thing on this Time release. The odd part is that Pierce mostly plays organ (whose idea was that?), which weighs down the group a bit since his is very much a pianistic style. The nine tunes are all Terry Gibbs originals, and Gibbs, although a masterful vibraphonist, has never been a major composer. However, the enthusiastic solos of the co-leaders keep the music colorful and swinging. *Scott Yanow*

Great work from Terry Gibbs —an album of all original material, recorded for Mainstream and not nearly as well-known as some of his bigger dates from the old days! The lineup here is a bit unusual— with Nat Pierce playing organ, Sal Nistico on tenor, and Turk Van Lake on guitar —all working with Gibbs in a groove that's a fair bit grittier than most of his other work, almost a soul jazz approach to the vibes at times! The original tracks are all appreciated too— nicely fresh numbers that bring in plenty of tenor and organ grooving. *dustygroove.com*

Side 1

1 - We Three

2 - Bathtub Eyes

3 - 7 F

4 - Settling Down Slow

5 - The Tweaker

Side 2

6 - Baby Blues

7 - Big Lips

8 - No Chops

9 - Movin' In

(All compositions by Terry Gibbs)

Terry Gibbs (vibraphone), Sal Nestico (tenor sax), Nat Pierce (organ), Turk Van Lake (guitar), Charlie Andrus (bass), Jake Hanna (drums).

Recorded at the Nola Penthouse Sound Studios, New York City, 1963.