Good Vibrations From Hutcherson, Vibraphone

Bobby Hutcherson is in a rare situation in the jazz world. He plays an instrument that has produced only a handful of true originators.

World-class vibraphonists have included Red Norvo and Lionel Hampton in the swing era, Milt Jackson in the bebop vanguard, Gary Burton with his impressionistic sounds of the ‘60s, and Hutcherson, mainly since the ‘70s, though he has been recording as a leader for more than 25 years.

As observers will note when he shares the bill with singer Betty Carter this evening at Royce Hall, Hutcherson in full flight is an astonishing spectacle, his mallets moving at a pace that defies the eye to follow his long, impetuous phrases. Yet, he is capable of the most sensitive balladry, and of adapting himself to Latin and Afro-Cuban idioms, as he showed not long ago in the brilliant CD “Ambos Mundos,” on Landmark Records.

“I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with different ideas,” said Hutcherson, who lives outside San Francisco. “The Bay Area has a large Latin community; also my wife, Rosemary, is Mexican, so that is a factor. At Royce Hall, though, I’ll be working with a fine straight-ahead rhythm section: Llew Matthews on piano, Tony Dumas on bass and Tootie Heath on drums.”

A measure of the respect in which he is held can be found in the roster of sidemen who have played on Hutcherson’s recording sessions over the years. Among them are Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Harold Land, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea and Branford Marsalis.

Why do musicians of every age group consider this native Angeleno, who turns 50 on Sunday, the vibes giant of this generation? Among other reasons, he is admired for combining efficiency with passion, vitality with sensitivity, and with the use of every idiomatic device from fast bebop lines to hypnotic modal drones.

Another aspect, virtually unique, is his occasional use of the marimba. “It’s a beautiful instrument,” he said. “It has that earthy wooden sound, as opposed to the metallic timbre of the vibes. I used it on my very first album for Blue Note Records, ‘Dialogue,’ and I’ve been using it off and on ever since.

“I keep a marimba set up in my garage and practice it, because it helps me play more evenly. My producer, Orrin Keepnews, says I’m the only person who can play the marimba, which has a staccato sound, and make each note lead right up to the next one so that it seems legato, which is the way jazz is supposed to sound. Orrin asked me how I do it, and I really don’t know--I guess I just think that way and it happens.”

His reputation as a composer has been another central facet of Hutcherson’s success. One of his early works, “Little B’s Poem,” has become a jazz standard. Recently, he has been moving into new areas. “I find that more and more I’m composing from the piano, and doing a little more piling on of the chords,” he said.

Essentially, this means that his recent works are more adventurous both in harmony and form, and more intricately structured, tending to move away from the standard 12- and 32-bar patterns of the past.

Not that Hutcherson wants to break away completely from his bop roots. “The other evening I saw Charlie Parker in that one and only movie of his, and I was reminded what a tremendous amount he left for us all to think about.”

Some of the post-bop qualities have surfaced in the Timeless All Stars, a sextet with which Hutcherson has worked occasionally for several years.

“The All Stars have a new album that’s due out soon,” he says. “Right now, though, I’m looking forward to going to New York for a quartet record session with one of my favorite pianists, Tommy Flanagan. Yes, I’m going to take my marimba along, and for a couple of tunes it will be just the two of us. I can hardly wait for that.”