Melvin Gibbs is an American bass guitarist who has appeared on close to 200 albums in diverse genres of music. Among others, Gibbs is known for working in jazz with drummer

Ronald Shannon Jackson Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and ...

and guitarist

Sonny Sharrock Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed. One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the fir ...

, and in rock music with

Rollins Band Rollins Band was an American rock band formed in Van Nuys, California. The band was active from 1987 to 2006 and was led by former Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins. They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and " Liar", which both ...

and

Arto Lindsay Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation '' No New York''. I ...

Career

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Gibbs attended

Medgar Evers College Medgar Evers College is a public college in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), offering baccalaureate and associate degrees. It was officially established in 1970 through cooperation between educato ...

and the

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, known at one time as the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music, is a music conservatory located in Brooklyn, New York City. It offers a broad range of instruction in areas of American song, jazz and gospel sin ...

. After graduating from

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, Gibbs first came to public notice as a member of the group

Defunkt Defunkt is an American musical group founded by the trombonist and singer Joseph Bowie in 1978 in New York City. Their music touches on elements of punk rock, funk, and jazz. Career Joseph Bowie is the brother of big band musician Byron Bow ...

, which was a mainstay of the early 1980s downtown New York scene. Throughout most of the 1980s, he played in drummer

's Decoding Society with guitarist

Vernon Reid Vernon Alphonsus Reid (born 22 August 1958) is an English-born American guitarist and songwriter. Reid is the founder and primary songwriter of the rock band Living Colour, Reid was named No. 66 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2003 list of the ...

and with guitarist

and saxophonist

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of j ...

. With Jackson and guitarist

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts ...

he was a member of the group Power Tools. Gibbs co-led the band Eye and I with D.K. Dyson who also co-founded the

Black Rock Coalition The Black Rock Coalition is a New York-based artists' collective and nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the creative freedom and works of black musicians. Founding and purpose The BRC was founded in 1985 in New York City by Vernon Reid ...

of which he is an original member. Gibbs took on the role of record producer while with the Rollins Band in the 1990s. He worked in that capacity, producing records for other artists on Rage Records. He was a member of the avant-metal

from 1993 to about 1998 and again in 2006 when the group briefly reformed. As a member of the Rollins Band, he performed at

Woodstock '94 Woodstock '94 was an American music festival held in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival of 1969. It was promoted as "2 More Days of Peace and Music". The poster used to promote the first concert was r ...

in 1994 and was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in 1995. Gibbs has also recorded with hip-hop musician

Dead Prez Dead Prez, often stylized as dead prez, is an American hip hop duo composed of stic.man and M-1, formed in 1996 in New York City. They are known for their confrontational style, combined with lyrics focused on both militant social justice, self ...

, Brazilian musicians

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

and

Marisa Monte Marisa de Azevedo Monte (Brazilian Portuguese: /maˈɾizɐ dʒi azeˈvedu ˈmõtʃi/) (born 1 July 1967) is a Brazilian singer, composer, instrumentalist, and producer of Brazilian popular music and samba. As of 2011, she had sold 10 million ...

, Latin jazz musician Eddie Palmieri, Nigerian musician

Femi Kuti Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's ri ...

, and guitarist

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

. He has produced albums by guitarist

and turntablist

DJ Logic DJ Logic (born 1972 as Jason Kibler) is an American turntablist active primarily in nu-jazz/ acid jazz and with jam bands. Kibler was born and raised in The Bronx, NY. Because of an early interest in hip hop, Kibler started using the turnta ...

. Gibbs formed the Punk-Funk All-Stars with

James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragg ...

, Defunkt leader Joseph Bowie, Vernon Reid and Ronald Shannon Jackson. In 1998, Gibbs, guitarist

Brandon Ross Brandon K. Ross is an American jazz guitarist. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Career Ross did clerical work for Leroy Jenkins before playing with Archie Shepp and Marion Brown in the second half of the 1970s. He has performed with W ...

, and drummer J.T. Lewis formed the trio

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, u ...

, which continues to perform concerts and record, as of 2022. ''Ancients Speak'', the first album by Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity, was released on March 17, 2009, by Livewired Music. In 2009, he joined the group SociaLybrium with

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Rol ...

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight DeWayne Stephen "Blackbyrd" McKnight (born April 17, 1954) is an American guitarist. He was a member of The Headhunters, a jazz-funk fusion band from 1975 through 1978 and Parliament-Funkadelic from 1978 through 2008. He served briefly as gui ...

, and J.T. Lewis. The group's album, ''For You/For Us/For All'' was released by Livewired in December 2009. Gibbs' other projects include Melvin Runs the Hoodoo Down with guitarist Pete Cosey and keyboard player

John Medeski Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...

; the JFM Trio with guitarist Jeff Parker and percussionist Francisco Mora, the Geechee Seminoles with percussionist David Pleasant; Zig Zag Power Trio with guitarist

and drummer

Will Calhoun William Calhoun (born July 22, 1964) is an American drummer who is a member of the rock band Living Colour. Career Calhoun was born in the Bronx, New York. He moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, where he graduated with a de ...

; God Particle with

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

/saxophonist

Stephon Alexander Stephon Alexander is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, musician, and author who blends the worlds of theoretical physics and jazz music. Personal life and education Alexander was born in Trinidad and moved to the United States when he was e ...

, David Pleasant, and other musicians; and Melvin Gibbs Magnum.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* 2003 ''The Rites'' with Burnt Sugar (

Greg Tate Gregory Stephen Tate (October 14, 1957December 7, 2021) was an American writer, musician, and producer. A long-time critic for '' The Village Voice'', Tate focused particularly on African-American music and culture, helping to establish hip ...

Butch Morris Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris (February 10, 1947 – January 29, 2013) was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, ''Conduction'', which he utilized on many recordings. B ...

, Pete Cosey (Avant Groidd Musica) * 2004 ''Raw Meet'' with

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...

, Lance Carter ( Intakt) * 2009 ''Ancients Speak'', as Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity (LiveWired; rereleased, Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) * 2010 ''

Christian Marclay Christian Marclay (born January 11, 1955) is a visual artist and composer. He holds both American and Swiss nationality. Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film. A pioneer of using gramophone records ...

: Graffiti Composition'' with Elliott Sharp,

Mary Halvorson Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts. Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Irabag ...

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

* 2010 ''Electric Willie: a Tribute to

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

'' with Elliott Sharp, Henry Kaiser, , Queen Esther, Glenn Phillips, Lance Carter (Yellowbird) * 2011 "E-volution" single (rereleased later, Melvin Gibbs via

bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

) * 2011 ''Phree-dem downloads'' (Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) * 2013 ''Crossing the Waters'' with Elliott Sharp, (Intakt) * 2013 "Still Dreamin'" single (rereleased later, Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) * 2018 ''Zig Zag Power Trio'' with Vernon Reid,

(Woodstock Sessions) * 2020 "Holy Ground: 38th and Chicago – initial thoughts" single (Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) * 2021 "It's Been a Long Time Coming" single (Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) * 2021 ''4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25'' (Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) * 2021 "FlyBoy's Bardo EZ Pass" single (Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) With

* 1980 ''Defunkt'' * 1994 ''Live & Reunified'' * 2005 ''Defunkt/Thermonuclear Sweat'' With

* 1994 ''

Weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...

'' * 1997 ''

Come In and Burn ''Come In and Burn'' is the fifth full-length studio album by the Rollins Band. Released in 1997 on DreamWorks SKG, it is their major label debut. It is also the last album before vocalist Henry Rollins dissolved the band's "classic" lineup of g ...

'' With Harriet Tubman * 1998 ''I Am a Man'' (SlaveNo Mo'/

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United States. The Knitting Factory gave its audience poetry readings, perform ...

) * 2000 ''Prototype'' (

Avant AVANT, also known as AVANT street art guerrilla collective, was the artist group active in New York City from 1980 to 1984. By 1984 AVANT had produced thousands of acrylic on paper paintings and plastered them on walls, doors, bus-stops and gallerie ...

) * 2011 ''Ascension'' ( Sunnyside) * 2011 ''Lucent Steps: Ascension Remix'' single (Melvin Gibbs via bandcamp) * 2017 ''Araminta'' (Sunnyside) * 2018: ''The Terror End of Beauty'' (Sunnyside) Other bands * 1987 ''Strange Meeting'', Power Tools * 2010 ''For You – For Us – For All'', Socialybrium

As sideman

With

Jean-Paul Bourelly Jean-Paul Etienne Bourelly (born November 23, 1960) is an American guitarist whose music crosses the boundaries of jazz fusion and rock. Bourelly was born in Chicago, Illinois, to parents from Haiti. His grandmother taught him Yoruba music. Whe ...

* 1994 ''Saints & Sinners'' * 1997 ''Fade to Cacophony: Live'' * 2002 ''Trance Atlantic'' With

* 1999 ''Project Logic'' * 2001 ''The Anomaly'' * 2006 ''Zen of Logic'' With

* 1980 ''Eye on You'' * 1981 ''Nasty'' * 1982 '' Mandance'' (

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

) * 1983 ''Street Priest'' * 1983 ''

Barbeque Dog ''Barbeque Dog'' is an album by Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, recorded in 1983 for the Antilles Records, Antilles label.

'' (Antilles) * 1985 '' Decode Yourself'' (

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

) * 1990 ''Taboo'' * 1999 ''Live in Montreux'' * 2000 ''Earned Dreams'' * 2000 ''Live at Greenwich House'' With

* 1995 ''Aggregates 1-26'' * 1996 ''Mundo Civilizado'' * 1996 ''Subtle Body'' * 1998 ''Noon Chill'' * 1999 ''Prize'' * 2000 ''Ecomixes'' * 2002 ''Invoke'' * 2004 ''Salt'' * 2014 ''Encyclopedia of Arto'' * 2017 ''Cuidado Madame'' With

* 1991 ''Mais'' * 1996 ''Barulhinho Bom (A Great Noise)'' With

* 1987 '' Seize the Rainbow'' (

Enemy An enemy or a foe is an individual or a group that is considered as forcefully adverse or threatening. The concept of an enemy has been observed to be "basic for both individuals and communities". The term "enemy" serves the social function of d ...

) * 1989 '' Live in New York'' (Enemy) * 1996 ''Into Another Light'' With

Moreno Veloso Moreno Veloso (born November 22, 1972) is a Brazilian musician and singer. Early life His parents are Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso and his first wife Andréa Gadelha (Dedé) Veloso. Brazilian singer Gal Costa is Moreno Veloso's godmother ...

* 2001 ''Music Typewriter'' * 2014 ''Coisa Boa'' With

Vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

* 1999 ''Vitamin C'' * 2000 ''More'' With

* 1986 ''

The Big Gundown ''The Big Gundown'' ( it, La resa dei conti, lit=The Settling of Scores) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Sollima, and starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian. Plot Possessing a reputation for bringing criminals to justice, r ...

'' ( Elektra) * 1988 ''Spillane'' With others * 1982 ''Sueño'', Eddie Palmieri * 1989 ''Come Together as One'',

Will Downing Wilfred "Will" Downing (born November 29, 1963) is an American singer and songwriter. He is married to singer Audrey Wheeler, who was a member of the R&B group Unlimited Touch. Biography Downing enrolled in Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn ...

* 1989 ''Unh!'',

Philip Tabane Philip Tabane (25 March 1934 – 18 May 2018) was a South African musician, vocalist, jazz guitarist and band leader. He was born in rural Ga Ramotshegoa northeast of Pretoria into a family of guitarists. His mother was a spiritual healer ...

* 1990 ''Metamorphosis'',

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), O ...

* 1990 ''Rootless Cosmopolitans'',

* 1991 ''Circulado'',

* 1991 ''Lust'', Ambitious Lovers * 1995 ''Very Neon Pet'', Peter Scherer * 1997 ''Terra Incognita'',

Chris Whitley Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. During his 25-year career he released more than a dozen albums, had two songs in the top 50 of the Billboard mains ...

* 1998 ''Black Music'',

Chocolate Genius Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civi ...

* 1999 ''Mustango'',

Jean-Louis Murat Jean-Louis Murat (born 28 January 1952) is the pseudonym of the French singer/songwriter Jean-Louis Bergheaud. He spent much of his childhood with his grandparents in Murat-le-Quaire from which he got his pseudonym. Biography Jean-Louis Berghea ...

* 1999 ''Pasajes de un Sueno'',

Ana Torroja Ana Torroja Fungairiño (born 28 December 1959 in Madrid), 3rd marchioness of Torroja, is a Spanish singer. She was the lead singer of the pop trio Mecano, considered one of the most popular pop bands from Spain during the 1980s and 1990s. Mec ...

* 1999 ''Return of Kill Dog E'', Scotty Hard * 2000 ''Let's Get Free'',

* 2000 ''Menace to Sobriety'', OPM * 2003 ''Deeper Than Oceans'',

Kazufumi Miyazawa is the founder of the Japanese bands The Boom and Ganga Zumba. The former was noted in the 1990s for a fusion of rock, pop, and local Okinawan folk music. Miyazawa is responsible for virtually all lyrics and music for The Boom, who are best kn ...

* 2004 ''Ten'', Ellery Eskelin * 2010 ''The Art of Bellydance'', Bellydance Superstars * 2020 ''Marching Music'', Dave Douglas ( Greenleaf)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Melvin Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Guitarists from New York (state) Jazz musicians from New York (state) Musicians from Brooklyn Berklee College of Music alumni African-American record producers African-American rock musicians Alternative metal bass guitarists American jazz bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Record producers from New York (state) Jazz fusion bass guitarists Rollins Band members American male jazz musicians 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Intakt Records artists African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people