Thrasher Dream Trio Takes Off

Gibbs, Barron and Carter let it fly Live with special guests

First take with Live in Studio, The Thrasher Dream Trio, captivate a studio audience

It began as a lark, maybe a dream or a fantasy, and has blossomed into a jazz juggernaut, a real phenomenon, topping charts, earning widespread acclaim, and even notching a Grammy nomination.

The story behind the Thrasher Dream Trio is one that starts with a vision and ends with success. Drummer Gerry Gibbs, the motivator, producer, arranger, bandleader—not to mention son of vibe legend Terry Gibbs—providing the TDT with its beating heart, and has kept it vital since 1996, when he released his debut Thrasher CD (released October 2013), with guest Ravi Coltrane and executive producer Quincy Jones.

Leapfrog to 2014, a watershed year for Thrasher. First, Gibbs managed to recruit two of his boyhood idols, bassist Ron Carter and piano legend Kenny Barron, to guest with him and form the aptly titled Thrasher Dream Trio. That year, the trio cranked it up, and produced two remarkable JazzWeek #1 albums, including We’re Back (released in September 2014).

The trio’s hot streak was palpable, and so was the jazz. Before he could pinch himself, and flush with creative energy, Gibbs had another really cool idea he wanted to jump on to capitalize on the momentum. That idea was Thrasher Dream Trio Live in Studio.

Recorded live in the studio (the famed Systems Two Studio in Brooklyn) in front of a captive, and captivated, audience, Live in Studio is a collection of pop covers culled mainly from the 50s and 60s, revitalized and given a fresh coat of jazz paint. The repertoire, which Gibbs recalls hearing way back as a kid, when his radio dial was tuned into KWXY out of Palms Springs, is vintage but also sleekly modern. It is also minimally arranged on the surface, but in the able hands of his titanic rhythm section, the set offers sophisticated, jazz-based jams of chestnuts that hinge on melodies sturdy enough to endure rigorous modern jazz interpretations.

In approaching the project, Gibbs and company insisted on keeping things loose, by avoiding any rehearsals at all, and requiring only the simplest tempos on which to drape the melodies. All of which was just fine with Barron and Carter. “I think Gerry’s idea for this recording was to not be tied down by tricky arrangements with a bar of this and a bar of that,” said Barron, about the session. “He decided to just let the music be what it was going to be and for me, it worked.”

Honored guests on the session include luminaries Roy Hargrove on trumpet and Cassandra Wilson at the mic. Wilson’s silken voice so obviously loves wrapping around, for example, Bacharach’s “The Look of Love,” while Hargrove’s crisp trumpet burns on a few tracks, including the Mercer/Mancini hit “Charade.” Other highlights include the Burton Lane/Alan Jay Lerner classic “On a Clear Day” and “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” the latter a tip of the hat to the Vince Guaraldi Trio that simmers with slow funk. It goes without saying that the rhythm section—Barron and Carter, mentors and noblemen alike—reflects its decades of experience here.

Of course, there are many other great moments, 16 in all, each one more magical than the other. As Gibbs, Carter, Barron and guests recast this collection of legendary pop, fans of inspired jazz derive the greatest reward.