GIBBS, TERRY

GIBBS, TERRY (Julius Gubenko; 1924– ), U.S. vibraphonist, drummer. The Brooklyn-born Gibbs grew up in a musical family. His brother Sol taught him to play drums and vibes and the two boys worked for their father, Abe, whose band, the Radio Novelty Orchestra, was a fixture on the Depression-era bar mitzvah-wedding circuit. It was a training ground that gave him a healthy respect for Jewish music and for the business side of the music industry. But it was while he was on a two-week furlough from the U.S. Army during WWII that Gibbs had a life-changing encounter, slipping into a jazz club to hear Charlie Parker play the new jazz music called "be-bop." One night turned into two weeks as the young GI spent every night of his furlough at Minton's Playhouse absorbing the new sounds. His first stop upon his discharge from the army was 52nd Street again, where he took up the vibes in earnest in a bebop quintet that featured tenor saxophonist Allen Eager and drummer Max Roach. Gibbs's major career break followed shortly after when he was hired by Woody Herman as part of the clarinetist's legendary Second Herd, a bop-oriented band that featured a powerhouse sax section whose members included Eager, Al Cohn, and stan getz . After Herman dissolved that group, Gibbs went to work for a succession of excellent leaders, most prominently benny goodman . Eventually he relocated to the West Coast, where he started his own group and divided his time between jazz jobs and studio and television work. Gibbs remained active into his seventies. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: "Terry Gibbs: Jazz Profiles from NPR," at: www.npr.org ; B. Priestly, "Terry Gibbs," in: Jazz: The Rough Guide (1995); J. Ephland., "Terry Gibbs," Down Beat Magazine archives at: www.downbeat.com . (George Robinson (2nd ed.)