For jazz trumpeter and educator Greg Gisbert, the news that he would be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame triggers appreciation for the talent to be found in the state he calls home.
“I immediately thought of all the people I played music with in Denver and Colorado, who are so great,” Gisbert reveals. “Everyone in New York City and all my friends who come through here to play say, ‘These people are fantastic.’ I’m really proud of our community.”
The feeling is mutual. Gisbert is one of Colorado’s most respected and admired jazz musicians. But he’s also a generous performer whose devotion to sharing knowledge with young players is spurred by a love of music that has only grown more passionate with time.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, Gisbert followed in the footsteps of his music-teacher parents. The family moved to Colorado in 1971, when he was five years old, and he began filling in on drums for gigs with his dad’s trio at various hospitals, Elks lodges and VFW halls while still a schoolboy.
…largely because his arms were too short to play his preferred instrument, the trombone. In the beginning, Gisbert disliked the horn so much that he’d leave it on playgrounds or at busy intersections in the hope that it would disappear permanently. Not until he saw the legendary Clark Terry perform live did he ask to take trumpet lessons.
By his mid-teens, Gisbert was hanging out at El Chapultepec, the renowned jazz venue inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame along with Jerry Krantz, its late owner. Krantz allowed the youngster to come in the side door and play with Denver greats in the house band, plus fellow Hall of Famers like Ken Walker and Ellyn Rucker. Gisbert credits The Pec with teaching him lessons in musicianship and community.
After being selected for the McDonald’s All-American High School Band as a Heritage High School senior, Gisbert earned a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music. But he didn’t stay at the institution for long owing to the fulfillment of a childhood dream – a chance to play with drumming titan Buddy Rich. He was just nineteen when he made his August 2, 1985, debut in Rich’s big band, and this breakthrough led to a wealth of additional opportunities. By the time he was in his thirties, he’d provided brassy support for the Dizzy Gillespie All Stars and plenty of other brilliant players and band leaders, including Woody Herman, Maria Schneider, Roy Hargrove, Gary Burton, Toshiko Akiyoshi and his original inspiration, Clark Terry.
Under the auspices of the Criss Cross Jazz label, Gisbert released three fine recordings under his own name, and cut five albums and keeps a busy performance schedule with acts such as Convergence, a unit that teams him with another esteemed Colorado Music Hall of Famer, Eric Gunnison. He also contributed to a sparkling list of groups over the course of his musical work history, highlighted by the Mingus Big Band, the Frank Sinatra Orchestra, the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra, and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. And that’s not to mention his work on film soundtracks (Glengarry Glen Ross, Bullets Over Broadway), sports television (themes for the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA and ESPN), and prestige video specials – notably Clint Eastwood’s Eastwood After Hours (Live at Carnegie Hall) and Cheek to Cheek Live!, which paired Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. He also produced CHIE IMAIZUMI recording “Unfailing Kindness” featuring all Denver artists for Denver’s own Capri records.
…the Manhattan School of Music, the University of Miami, and currently teaches at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts (CCJA, jazzarts.org) passing along the gift of wisdom with each class. No wonder so many musicians in the state admire him every bit as much as he cherishes them.
By Michael Roberts
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