Gary Burton ’62 H’89

When the Stan Getz recording of “Girl from
Ipanema” came in just behind the Fab Four on the
Billboard charts, Gary Burton, a Getz sideman at
the time, knew things were about to roll. In recent
years, Burton has cited the Beatles and Getz as
having influenced the course of his musical career,
both, perhaps, for their indelible impressions with
simple melodies. And, for all of the complexities of
Burton’s craft as a vibist, in his fusion of these
influences, he remains an ambassador of pure
melodic persuasion. The self-taught Burton made
his RCA Victor recording debut in Nashville,
working with guitarists Chet Atkins and Hank
Garland. In 1963, after studying for two years at
Berklee and The Boston Conservatory, he joined
the George Shearing Quintet and began recording
on his own for RCA. A year later, Stan Getz hired
Burton to replace guitarist Jimmy Raney in his
quartet. By the time the association with Getz
came to a close, Burton had six solo albums to his
credit, and had been voted Downbeat’s “Talent
Deserving Wider Recognition,” which soon proved
a markedly understated accolade. Beginning in
1967, the Gary Burton Quartet forged a place,
which Michael Zwerin (International Herald
Tribune, Paris) called a “bridge between the main-
stream of jazz and the permutation called jazz-
rock,” by which artists such as Miles Davis and
John McLaughlin made passage. In 1968, Burton
earned the Downbeat “Jazzman of the Year” title,
and began a run as Number One Vibraphonist,
maintained for 19 consecutive years. He received
his first Grammy Award for Alone At Last, a
recording of his solo concert at the 1971 Montreux
Jazz Festival. He continued his recording career
with albums for Atlantic, Warner, ECM, and
Polygram, while serving on the Berklee faculty
through most of the 1970s. During a five-year
departure from teaching, Burton continued
recording for ECM, toured, and earned Grammys
for Duet and Zurich Concert with Chick Corea. In
1983, he returned to Berklee, and became Dean of
Curriculum two years later. His innovations as a
vibes soloist and accompanist, his pioneering of
the multi-mallet technique, and his charting of a
contemporary jazz sound that revolutionized the
use of the vibraphone, earned Burton a place in
the Percussion Hall of Fame in 1989. To date,
Burton has released more than 50 major label
records, most recently Face to Face with Makoto
Ozone ’83. He has worked with Astor Piazzolla,
Pat Metheny, Eddie Daniels, George Shearing,
Steve Swallow, Ralph Towner, Tiger Okoshi *75,

Rebecca Parris, k.d. lang, Eric Clapton, B.B.
King H’85, and Keith Jarrett *67. Burton is the
recipient of the Homer Osborne Award for Music
Education (1975, 1994) and an honorary doctor of
music degree from Berklee (1989).

Michael Gibbs '63
After dropping the piano, which he began playing
at the age of seven in Salisbury, Rhodesia, for an
instrument suited to the local pop music of the
day; failing to get his science degree from the uni-
versity; and taking up with the jazz musicians
around town; “it came quite naturally” to trom-
bonist Michael Gibbs that music “was what [he]
wanted to do.” Gibbs’ “pop teacher” introduced
him first to Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden,
then to the West Coast America
Shorty Rogers Big Band, Gerry Mulligan, and
Dave Brubeck. At around the t
Parker’s death, when radio me 1
exposed him to another side of Gibbs
became aware of Berklee, and be A
money to enroll in the school whe
become a jazz trombonist. He d
discovering that writing and ar
and was less “terrifying.” Gibb
ing with a classmate, providing

  
   
   
   
   
 

for Gary Burton’s first album a

 

Improvisatory Sketches” and *

   

Burton’s project the following y
Gibbs’ “Ballet” and “Sweet Ra
The latter composition, the title
and now considered something
has been recorded by a numbe

Burton gave
o Stan Getz.
the Getz album
jazz standard,
artists including
andy Weston.
here he worked

    
   

        
   
 

       
 

Stephane Grappelli, Burton, a
Gibbs moved to England in 196
for two years in Graham Collie

       
  
   
  

Lancaster University. That put G
bandleader in play, a
contract with Decca fa

 

   

 
 
 

vith Gary Burton)
, the same year Gibbs
oser-in-Residence at

s, Tanglewood ’63, Just Ahead, Will
Power, The Only Chrome Waterfall Orchestra,