Bobby Hutcherson

Born in Los Angeles in 1941, Bobby Hutcherson was one of the most original and influential vibraphonists in jazz history, emerging in the 1960s with a sound tailored to meet the harmonic complexity of post-bop. Hutcherson grew up surrounded by music, and took up the vibes aged 12 after hearing Milt Jackson. He cut his first record in a band led by Les McCann in 1960 while still on the West Coast, but his career took off after he moved to New York in 1963. He became a fixture at Blue Note Records, where he went on to make two dozen albums as a bandleader, but he was also an ubiquitous sideman, leaving his indelible mark on sessions led by Jackie McLean, Andrew Hill, Joe Henderson, Tony Williams, Grant Green, Eric Dolphy and Grachan Moncur III, among others. In the 1970s, Hutcherson made some fusion albums, but his aesthetic was rooted in post-bop, and his playing straddled the divide between mainstream and avant-garde jazz. He continued performing into his 70s, becoming an elder statesman and role model to a new generation of vibists like Stefon Harris and Steve Nelson before dying from emphysema in 2016.