Michael Gibbs

Michael Clement Irving Gibbs (born September 25, 1937 in Harare, Zimbabwe) is a jazz composer, conductor, arranger and producer as well as a trombonist and keyboarder. He studied piano from age seven to thirteen and took up trombone at seventeen. In 1959 he moved to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory. At Berklee he studied under and worked with Herb Pomeroy. He graduated from Berklee in 1962 and the conservatory in 1963. In 1965 he returned to what was then Southern Rhodesia, but later was associated with the United Kingdom.

After recording with Graham Collier, John Dankworth, Kenny Wheeler and Mike Westbrook in the late 1960s, he released his first album Michael Gibbs in 1970. His orchestras were important stages in the careers of various fusion musicians, and his arranging, conducting and producing work was well appreciated (see discography.) He is known for collaborations with Gary Burton, his student, and for his ability to utilize rock elements in orchestral jazz. He also taught at Berklee for much of the 1970s.

Selected discography

Albums as leader/co-leader Michael Gibbs (1970, Deram) Tanglewood 63 (1971, Deram) Just Ahead (1972, Polydor) In The Public Interest (1974, Polydor) Seven Songs For Quartet And Chamber Orchestra (1974, ECM) The Only Chrome Waterfall Orchestra (1975, Bronze) Big Music (1988, Virgin/Venture) By The Way (1993, ah um) Europeana (1995, ACT) Nonsequence (2001, Provocateur)

Soundtracks Housekeeping (1987, Varese Sarabande) Iron & Silk (1991, Mute) Hard-Boiled (1993, Mute) Being Human (1993, Varese Sarabande) Century / Close My Eyes (1994, Mute)

[biography from Wikipedia]