Terry Pollard 1931-2009

[brownie]

Jazz Times has a story about Terry Pollard passing away on December 16...

http://jazztimes.com/articles/25540-jazz-pianist-terry-pollard-dies-at-78

That's very sad! Liked her playing with Terry Gibbs and Yusef Lateef!

[king ubu]

Sad news. Though to be honest, she's another one I wasn't even aware of her still being around

Will play that Lateef Savoy session later one, it's on top of the listening pile anyway.

[jazzbo]

Bye Terry! Wish you had recorded more. Quite a player!

[Don Brown]

She was a fine piano player and seemed to be a very nice person. I saw her with the Terry Gibbs quartet at Toronto's Town Tavern in the '50s where she also indulged in four-handed vibes playing with her boss. I remember in the 1980s talking to Terry Gibbs about Terry Pollard. It was obvious he'd been very attached to her and talked about visiting her in the hospital not long before and realizing just how much damage her strokes had caused. She apparently had no idea who he was.

[Peter Friedman]

Terry Pollard was another in the group of fine jazz piano players who came out of Detroit in the late 40's through the 60's. Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Roland Hanna, Will Davis, Hugh Lawson, and Kirk Lightsey come quickly to mind. Hank Jones from Pontiac was bit earlier.

I vividly recall going to hear Terry Pollard play solo/ and trio piano a few times in a club in Detroit in either 1963 or 1964. She fit perfectly in that

T. Flanagan / B.Harris bop style that I have so greatly enjoyed all these years. Her playing was so impressive that I was never able to understand why she

never had the opportunity to record some piano trio albums. Though a solid vibes player, it was her terrific jazz piano work that was especially impressive.

[JamesJazz]

Terry Gibbs heard Terry Jean Pollard at the Blue Bird Inn in the early '50s. She was in the Billy Mitchell Quintet (along with Thad/Elvin and Alvin Jackson). He said she was so good that he went back for a second listen and then hired her. Pollard also recorded with B Mitch's band in 1952 or 1953 (not 1948, as listed in the discos).

Terry tackled the big apple but didn't make the big splash her talent warranted. She ended up in Detroit and for many years she led a fine trio at the Hobby Bar. It is a damn shame that there are so few recordings extant. I know there are tapes of the BBI band and hopefully they will see the light of day someday.

After her stroke around 1981, she wasn't able to use both hands. She had lots of attitude and a good memory. Terry probably needed the attitude to survive in the world of Bebop. She lived quietly until moving to New York to be with her son around 2003.

[brownie]

Very nice obituary by Mark Stryker in the Detroit Free Press today.

[Mark Stryker]

Very nice obituary by Mark Stryker in the Detroit Free Press today.

Brownie, thanks for posting. Space was rather limited, so I didn't have room to include some other stories that Terry Gibbs told me. Apparently, he has film of an appearance he and Pollard made on the Steve Allen Show in 1956 in which they both play vibes. Gibbs said he's played it for Stefon Harris and other younger vibes players that his son Gerry has brought by the house. Gibbs says her bebop command and fluidity just blows them away -- most of them have never even heard of her. Gibbs also said that when he brought her to New York, she used to constantly get offers to join other bands, including one from Charlie Parker when he heard her right when she hit town.

Anybody seen that video? Also, anybody own her Bethlehem album? Finally, if you click on the smaller picture that ran with the obituary, you can clearly see that it's Pepper Adams performing with Pollard. I don't know where the photo was taken but assume it's from the '70s before her stroke.

Edited December 24, 2009 by Mark Stryker

[Chas]

Also, anybody own her Bethlehem album?

I have it . It's a fine showcase for her piano stylings . I also have Dorothy Ashby's Jazzland record that features Pollard on vibes . Fantasy never got around to reissuing that one . There's a nice shot of her on its back cover :

[rplayjzz]

Hello: Terry Pollard is my cousin. We will truly miss her. Today a video was posted on YouTube of her performing with the Terry Gibbs Quartet on The Steve Allen Show -enter-Terry Gibbs Quartet with Terry Pollard. You will see a great performance of her on piano and vibes. We will miss her, but her music lives on and this performance is probably the only one of her performing on film. Blessings and enjoy!

[Mark Stryker]

Rjjazz -- thanks for alerting us to the YouTube clip. All: here's the link:

It's from October 1956. They play a swift bebop tune with Pollard on piano and then an even quicker "Now's the Time" with both Gibbs and Pollard trading off on a single set of vibes. She's a wizard. On piano, it's a scampering Bud Powell conception, but I hear a lot of similarities with early Horace Silver in the pinging evenness of her articulation, the blues allusions and the rumble in her left hand. Anybody else hear this? (Blue Note trio Horace, when he was still playing longer 8th note lines, before he distilled his right hand to short, jabbing ideas.)

Chas was nice enough to send me a copy of her Bethlehem 10" LP and I was struck by some of the same qualities -- it's a fine record. Her energy and drive are really something. I'm sorry I never heard her live.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Mark Stryker

[Peter Friedman]

Mark,

Thanks for posting the link to that wonderful YouTube video.

I agree with your comments about Terry Pollard's piano work here showing a blend of Bud Powell and (early) Horace Silver styles.

[king ubu]

Thanks for posting that video - great one!

[brownie]

The Youtube video with the Terry Gibbs quartet was oustanding!

Made me wish there were more recorded contributions by Terry Pollard!

[rplayjzz]

Also, anybody own her Bethlehem album?

I have it . It's a fine showcase for her piano stylings . I also have Dorothy Ashby's Jazzland record that features Pollard on vibes . Fantasy never got around to reissuing that one . There's a nice shot of her on its back cover :

Hello-our family is trying to compile a collection of Terry's music. One of the albums we are having difficulty obtaining is the Soft Winds album. Would you be interested in communicating with Terry's cousin who is compiling her discography?

[Chas]

Sure .

Send me a PM .