Terry Pollard was a gifted pianist whose ability paralleled that of her fellow Detroiters Tommy Flanagan and Barry Harris. She shared their grasp of the bebop vocabulary and, some admirers claimed, swung even harder. I became aware of her when she recorded with the vibraharpist Terry Gibbs in the early 1950s. She is with Gibbs on this album, one of her few recordings. In the picture below, which I pirated from the photo section of Bill Crow’s web site, Ms. Pollard is at Birdland with Gibbs, Crow and drummer Frank Di Vito.
For more on Terry Pollard, see Mark Stryker’s column in today’s Detroit Free Press.
Terry Pollard, 1931-2009
December 24, 2009 by
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
I ran into Barry Harris in a NYC sushi bar last week, and he told me that Terry was in a nursing home here in the city. I was going to get the address from him, but was too late. Terry was a dear girl. When we played together with Terry Gibbs’s quartet, we had great times.
This photo, from Birdland, around 1953, was taken while we were playing opposite the Basie band, where I first made friends with Joe Newman, Gus Johnson, Benny Powell, Frank Foster and Frank Wess. In the 1960s Joe became my roommate on the Benny Goodman tour of the Soviet Union, and I got Gerry Mulligan to hire Gus for the GM quartet and Concert Jazz Band.
(The “Open Country” video two exhibits down shows Bull Ruther and Gus Johnson having a great time, and great time, with Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer. — DR)
I met Terry when I was 19 in LA–she was with Terry Gibbs still right before she left his group and I believe Pat Moran, an LA woman pianist, took her place. Terry had two other women pianists besides Terry–one was Alice Coltrane before she was Alice Coltrane.
I was so youthfully attracted to Terry Pollard that night I had to find the cool to go up and shake her hand and give her my adoration for her playing and her looks–she was pretty besides being supertalented–she was sitting at a table with the drummer and maybe Bill Crow was in that version of Gibbs’s band though I think it was Whitey or Red Mitchell playing with the band that night. Terry was a brilliant pianist–growing up in Detroit in those days playing the piano, you had to be good.
I, too, was shocked to learn Terry had been here in NYC all these years–I, too, had I known, would have made a pilgrimage to see her.
One of the swingingest albums ever is Terry Gibbs’s Emarcy LP “Terry Gibbs Quartet Featuring Terry Pollard.” “Seven Come Eleven” on that album is a kick-ass drivin’ delight! Terry Pollard at her best.
thegrowlingwolf