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Lauro Martinez

Gerry Gibbs is a Grammy-nominated artist and the son of the famous jazz musician Terry Gibbs. His band, Gerry Gibbs and Thrasher People, performed at the Japanese Tea Gardens on Friday, Oct. 13. To create their eccentric and unpredictable sound, Gerry searched all over the country to find the right chemistry and commitment from each artist in the band. The band features Gerry Gibbs on drums and keys, Michelle Garibay Carey as the vocalist, James Suter on the bass, Jerry Espinoza on woodwinds, Tommy Howard on guitar and spoken word and Eric Hargett on woodwinds and keyboard.

Gerry Gibbs comes from a lineage of great talent. Gerry’s father, Terry Gibbs, is an American jazz vibraphonist and has worked with many notable musicians, such as Billie Holiday, Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman and Alice Coltrane, to name a few. On Friday, Oct. 13, Terry turned 99 years old. During the event, Gerry FaceTimed his dad, and the whole audience sang him “Happy birthday.”

A night full of jazz in the beautiful setting of the Japanese Tea Gardens — what could possibly go wrong? With all the talent on stage, it was not enough to keep the band electrified to perform the way they were supposed to. Regardless of power outages, rainy weather, an hour delay, lights crashing down at the audience and an impending eclipse, the small set the band was able to perform was outstanding. Gerry Gibbs and Thrasher People did jazz covers of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music” and some of their original songs.

The concert did not go as planned, and they ended up calling it quits after 45 minutes of playing their set due to difficulties. The audience was murmuring and blaming all the misfortunes of the event on Friday the 13th. Everything appeared to be going wrong, so buying into the superstition of Friday the 13th seemed like the only logical explanation for all the tribulation caused during the concert. 

To learn more about the eye-opening and fast-paced fun music of Gerry Gibbs and Thrasher People, check out their website and listen to their music on all streaming platforms.