Terry Pollard Explained

Terry Pollard (August 15, 1931 – December 16, 2009) was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist active in the Detroit jazz scene of the 1940s and 1950s. She has been described as a "major player who was inexplicably overlooked."^[1]

Pollard began her career by collaborating with other Detroit musicians, such as Billy Mitchell (and Elvin Jones, in the house band at the Blue Bird Inn),^[2] Johnny Hill, and the Emmitt Slay Trio.^[3] She was discovered by Terry Gibbs and toured with him in the early 1950s, playing piano and vibraphone. They recorded several albums, including Terry Gibbs Quartet - Featuring Terry Pollard.^[4] Pollard appeared with Gibbs on an episode of The Tonight Show hosted by Steve Allen.^[5] Her collaborations with Gibbs from 1953 to 1957 marked the height of her career.^[6]

Pollard also performed with John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.

Pollard recorded a self-titled solo album for Bethlehem Records in 1955 and won DownBeat magazine's New Artist award in 1956. Pollard retired from her full-time music career shortly thereafter in order to raise a family, but she continued to play locally in Detroit and performed with artists including Diana Ross and The Supremes. She was inducted into the Michigan Jazz Hall of Fame.^[7]

Her contributions to the mid-century Detroit jazz scene were recognized in the book Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit 1920-1960, by Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert.

Discography

• Terry Pollard Quintet (Bethlehem, 1955)
• Terry Pollard And Her Septet: Cats vs. Chicks - A Jazz Battle Of The Sexes (album shared with Clark Terry Septet, MGM 1954)

With Terry Gibbs

• Terry (Brunswick, 1954 [1955])
• Terry Gibbs [AKA ''Terry Gibbs Quartet Featuring Terry Pollard''] (EmArcy 1955)
• Mallets-A-Plenty (EmArcy 1956)
• Swingin' with Terry Gibbs and His Orchestra (EmArcy, 1957)

With Yusef Lateef

• Lateef at Cranbrook (Argo, 1958)
• The Dreamer (Savoy, 1959)
• The Fabric of Jazz (Savoy, 1959)
• Angel Eyes, (Savoy Jazz, 1979) 2LP reissue of The Dreamer and The Fabric of Jazz
• Beautiful Flowers (Savoy Jazz, 2005) CD compilation of Savoy tracks
• At Cranbrook and Elsewhere (2009)

With Dorothy Ashby

• Soft Winds (Jazzland, 1961)

With Don Fagerquist

• Portrait of a Great Jazz Artist (2005)^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Terry Gibbs: Terry Gibbs Quartet Featuring Terry Pollard (2007). Chell. Samuel. 23 October 2007. All About Jazz. 26 June 2011.
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=K11GJ-xaEcoC&dq=phil+hill+jazz&pg=PA124 Björn, Lars Olof (2001) Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60, p. 126. University of Michigan Press
3. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=terry-pollard-p7348|pure_url=yes}} Terry Pollard: Biography ]. Scott. Yanow . Allmusic. 26 June 2011.
4. Web site: Terry Gibbs Quartet - Featuring Terry Pollard - Terry Gibbs - Blues Sounds . Freshsoundrecords.com . September 5, 2013.
5. Web site: Everett . Aubrey . Jazz Articles: Jazz Pianist Terry Pollard Dies at 78 - By Aubrey Everett — Jazz Articles . Jazztimes.com . 1931-08-15 . 2013-09-05.
6. Cotterrell, Roger. ‘Terry Pollard: Vibe Virtuoso’ Jazz Journal, vol 71, no 5 (May 2018), 40.
7. Web site: Terry Pollard, Detroit-born jazz pianist succumbs to long illness. The Michigan Citizen. June 26, 2011. March 22, 2012. March 22, 2012. bot: unknown. https://web.archive.org/web/20120322065440/http://michigancitizen.com/terry-pollard-detroitborn-jazz-pianist-succumbs-to-long-illness-p8177-79.htm.
8. Web site: Terry Pollard Credits AllMusic. AllMusic. 19 November 2016.