Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Terry Gibbs: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959

Terry Gibbs: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959

By Richard J Salvucci
October 13, 2024
View read count

Terry Gibbs: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959

Someone once asked

Terry Gibbs

vibraphone
b.1924

" data-original-title="" title="">Terry Gibbs how it was possible that if you took his side men, or some subset of them, and put them together in another band, they never quite sounded as good. Gibbs replied, modestly, that it was all in the arrangers. He got the best arrangers, like

Bill Holman

composer / conductor
- 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Holman,

Marty Paich

composer / conductor
1925 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Marty Paich and

Med Flory

saxophone, tenor
1926 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Med Flory. Others did not. And so the story went.

It would have been tempting to ask if, perhaps, Gibbs had not underestimated another element in the formula: Terry Gibbs himself. If the first thing someone hears on listening to Gibb's 1959 Dream Band recordings is not Gibbs frenetically urging the band to, well, swing harder, then what does a listener hear? In March 1959, Gibbs took his remarkable collection of session and West Coast players into the Seville Club in Hollywood and counted off, with insistent urgings of "watch your feet, watch your feet!" on "Don't Be that Way." If a listener was expecting Edgar Sampson and

Benny Goodman

clarinet
1909 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Goodman ca. 1937, no way. As

Bob Florence

piano
1932 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Florence said, the band projected sheer "lift you off your chair" with its power. It is an honest if subjective evaluation that this kind of exciting hell-for-leather part-your-hair sort of big band has largely disappeared. Today's players may be technically superior, but Gibbs or

Woody Herman

band / ensemble / orchestra
1913 - 1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Woody Herman's pedal-to-the-metal leadership is simply not there. It is painfully obvious.

The original series of Dream Band recordings were engineered and recorded live at both the Seville Club and the Sundown Club in Hollywood by Wally Heider, with a jaw-dropping collection of musicians who must have showed or subbed as alternative commitments permitted. A strictly informal count says there were originally six volumes, but not everyone is blessed enough to have them all.

So from whence issued The Lost Tapes after being in hiding for more than 60 years? To hear Terry tell it (and he is alive and well on the Internet as a centenarian, no less) his son, drummer

Gerry Gibbs

drums
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Gibbs, digitized every recording of his in 2024 and Terry came across a file labelled "1959 Jazz Party" which mystified him.

As Terry recalls, he immediately recognized the Dream Band, but it took a little longer to place them at the Seville Club. Actually it turns out that some of the recordings were made at the Sundown Club as well. What are they? A listener suspects alternative takes, maybe from a different show or a different night. But they are most emphatically not duplicates as some comparative listening instantly demonstrates. The arrangements are the same, of course, but the solos, especially of the side men, are quite different. Whether one set is clearly better or preferable to another is, of course, a matter of taste. Listening to Terry tell the band "go home" on an out chorus is as much of a kick as it was the first time around. Seeing what

Joe Maini

saxophone, alto
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Maini or

Bob Enevoldsen

trombone
b.1920

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Enevoldsen can come up with on another take of "Opus One," or whether

Lou Levy

piano
1928 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">Lou Levy is going to play a chorus at all is just another reminder of what a superb group this was. Of course, "Opus One" is a famous shapeshifter with one recorded version, One More Time (Contemporary, 2002) featuring a battle between

Charlie Kennedy

saxophone, alto
1927 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Kennedy and Joe Maini. That must have been a "spontaneous" outburst, one writer has suggested. Certainly...

Happy 100th Birthday (October 13, 1924), Terry. This is quite a gift to give to your fans!

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Begin the Beguine; Back Bay Shuffle; It Might as Well Be Swing; My Reverie; After You'Ve Gone; I'M Getting Sentimental Over You; The Song Is You; Softly as in a Morning Sunrise; Moonglow; Don't Be That Way; Opus One; Prelude to a Kiss; Bright Eyes; Dancing in the Dark; Cottontail; Let's Dance; No Heat; Flying Home.

Personnel

Terry Gibbs

vibraphone

Al Porcino

trumpet

Ray Triscari

trumpet

Stu Williamson

trumpet

Conte Candoli

trumpet

Vern Friley

trombone

Bob Enevoldsen

trombone

Carl Fontana

trombone

Joe Maini

saxophone, alto

Charlie Kennedy

saxophone, alto

Med Flory

saxophone, tenor

Bill Holman

composer / conductor

Jack Schwartz

saxophone, baritone

Lou Levy

piano

Max Bennett

bass

Mel Lewis

drums

Album information

Title: Dream Band, Vol. 7: The Lost Tapes, 1959 | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Whaling City Sound

Terry Gibbs Dream Band �� Opus One (Live At The Seville and Sundown / 1959)

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Eric Gale: Forecast
< Previous

The Sound of the Fender Rhodes, Part...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.