Elmer Gibson was born in Philadelphia, but as the son of an army officer, he grew up in various places throughout the country. He began his musical studies at age four, and at age 18, be began studies in design at the Philadelphia Museum College of [+]Elmer Gibson was born in Philadelphia, but as the son of an army officer, he grew up in various places throughout the country. He began his musical studies at age four, and at age 18, be began studies in design at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art.
For a young jazz musician, Philadelphia in the late 60s was a pretty good place to be. He formed his own trio and began working in small clubs in the Philadelphia area. He worked and jammed with such artists as Al Grey, Cat Anderson, Sonny Stitt, Gary Bartz, Shirley Scott, Frank Foster, Kenny Durham, Sonny Fortune, Dakota Staton, Gene Ammons, Buster Williams, Trudy Pitts and Mr. C, Grover Washington, and Stanley Clark. In the mid 70s Elmer joined the Norman Conners Band, featuring Jean Carn and trumpeter Dr. Eddie Henderson. As pianist, arranger and musical director of the group, Elmer toured with this band throughout Europe, Japan and North America.
After a couple of years he opted out of life on the road and established a successful commercial design and space planning practice in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has remained very active as a musician and continues to be a vital presence in his arts community. Among other things, he founded the non-profit Preservation Jazz Company, which was responsible for starting a highly successful jazz festival and numerous concert series.
In 1985 the string trio of the North Carolina Symphony performed two of Elmer's original works, one of which won a statewide competition for composers and has since been performed by numerous string trios. In 1989 Elmer won the Gold Award as Music Director, arranger and accompanist of the Nnenna Freelon Duo held in Philadelphia. He also arranged two songs, "Dad's Delight" and "Little B's Poem" for Freelon's Columbia release, Listen, which also featured Wayne Shorter's "Footsteps," with lyrics by Elmer Gibson. Since that time Elmer has produced two CDs, "Jazz Ornaments," a solo piano Christmas CD, and "Generation Dance," a live recording of original music featuring, among others, Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson, Paul Carr, and Clifford Adams. He has also appeared on three CDs and two concert tours to Columbia, South America, with alto saxophonist Carl Grubbs.
In addition to his very busy playing and composing schedule
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