What a great but often disregarded instrument the vibraphone is...or short: the vibes. They unfailingly valorize every song they appear on. First marketed by a US company named Leedy in 1921, the "vibraphone" quickly became popular and caught the attention of another company who then developed a similar, enhanced instrument and gave it the name "vibraharp". Although this version from the late 1920s outmatched the "vibraphone" with regards to its popularity and is still used as a template for all similar instruments until today, the name "vibraphone" got stuck in people's heads. Either that or simply: the VIBES. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibraphone)
Now, when I discovered STEFON HARRIS' new album "URBANUS", which he recorded together with his band Blackout this year, I again realised how exceptional the vibes are. Harris himself once joked about it when he said that a vibe sound would turn every track into a christmas song. And although said for fun, he's not wrong. Indeed, the vibraphone provides a tune with a very special warm feeling that reminds me of a snowy winter day. Luckily, vibraphone sounds work just as well on a hot summer day.
Harris belongs to the younger generation of vibraphinist and just like I said, I only discovered him this year. Below you find a selection of the grandmasters of the vibes: ROY AYERS, MULATU ASTATKE and especially LIONEL HAMPTON, who created "the first known Jazz recording using the vibraphone" in 1930. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibraphone)
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