Maya by David Gibson

"Of the Gibson CD I have to be objective, quiet and unbiased - I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT.
Six good originals by Gibson, one by Sneider and two standards make up 50 minutes of uncompromising, hard swinging bop played by seven terrific players you never heard of - well, maybe you have heard of Escoffery. Where have they come from? Sent here from planet jazz fully formed and ready to blow I suppose ...
Please buy this CD ...
In case I forgot to say it - I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT."
- Mike Rogers, Jazz Review (UK)

David Gibson is one of New York’s hottest young trombone players working together with Wayne Escoffery - and jazz greats like Jimmy Heath, James Moody, Frank Wess, Randy Brecker, Slide Hampton, and Claudio Roditi.

"With all that I have learned in the past few years, I am eager to make a personal musical statement. Music is a language, and I have a story to tell."
- David Gibson

"Have no fear - jazz performance is safely in the hands of a new generation of players with outstanding chops, grounded in the foundations of the past, and with new musical expressions to present."
- Stan Pethel, International Trombone Association Quarterly Journal

"Mr. Gibson is one of the better new trombone players in jazz, with good chops and a glowing sound; more and more he is described as someone to watch on the instrument."
- New York Times

When it comes to what young jazz musicians should and shouldn't do, there are two equally extreme schools of thought. One is the Wynton Marsalis/Stanley Crouch school, which insists that all post-1965 developments in jazz have no value and that all fusion, jazz-funk, and avant-garde jazz is worthless. At the opposite extreme are those who believe that every young improviser who comes along must be an innovator, which is foolishly unrealistic. The truth is somewhere in the middle; jazz has room for innovators as well as traditionalists. Very much a hard bop/post-bop traditionalist, David Gibson shows some promise on his debut album, Maya. This German release is highly derivative, which isn't to say that it isn't enjoyable. A straight-ahead trombonist along the lines of J.J. Johnson, Curtis Fuller, and Kai Winding, Gibson isn't groundbreaking, but shows himself to be a swinging and likable player on original pieces like "Indomitable," "Snide Remarks," and "Big John" (none of which would have been out of place on a Blue Note session in the early '60s). Gibson also turns his attention to "What's New" and "Speak Low," two great standards that have been beaten to death over the years. And because the trombonist doesn't bring anything new or different to them, he would do well to interpret material that hasn't been overdone -- how about finding the straight-ahead jazz potential in Stevie Wonder, Sting, or Billy Joel (just to give a few examples)? But thankfully, Gibson doesn't inundate listeners with warhorses on Maya, which was recorded at two sessions in New York -- one in June 2001, the other on September 9, 2001. All things considered, Maya is a generally decent, if conventional debut.

AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson

Trombonist David Gibson has enjoyed a varied musical career which is deeply rooted in the genres of jazz and funk.
While reared in Oklahoma, Gibson’s musical journey steered him to New York City performing with Slide Hampton, Jon Faddis, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Heath, James Moody and many others.
His music evokes the essence of 60’s Blue Note Soul-Jazz in combination with modern elements from today.