This duo, consisting of Mike Hughes (vibraphone) and Tom Sykes (piano) performs a wide variety of music including contemporary classical music such as Astor Piazzolla, bossa nova, and jazz associated with vibraphonists Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson and Gary Burton.
As far as we know this is the first time a vibraphone has been played at the URC!
The vibraphone was invented in the United States in the late 1920s and quickly grew into a cornerstone of jazz and modern music. The first commercially successful vibraphone was produced in Chicago by Deagan in 1927.
Lionel Hampton first performed on the vibraphone with Louis Armstrong in the early 1930’s. His popularity grew when he later joined the Benny Goodman Band.
Milt Jackson and Red Norvo were both Be-Bop musicians who played the vibraphone starting in the 1940’s and their work on the instrument led to its popularity in the middle of the century. At the beginning of the 1960’s Gary Burton introduced a 4 mallet technique which allowed the vibraphone to develop beyond a front line instrument, adding complex harmonic voicings to the vibraphone repertoire.
As the vibraphone moves into its second century the instrument has matured with both 2 and 4 mallet technique being further developed for the many musical forms where the instrument finds itself being used. Whilst still an important contributor to jazz, over the last 50 years the vibraphone has been used increasingly in chamber and orchestral music with many contemporary composers adding concertos, small group and solo pieces to the vibraphone canon.
