When I thought about writing this dispatch (sorry for the delay), I was thinking about finally writing about The Church, but I ran into a problem that comes to anyone who writes for a long time: I had nothing truly interesting to say. Sure, The Church is great, but their albums mostly work on vibes. They developed a formula of blending 60s psychedelica with 80s jangle pop and stream-of-consciousness lyrics. The system works great, but all of the albums, more or less, follow this structure. Some get a little more proggy, but you get the idea.

As I was having this realization, I fell into a classic thinking sequence for myself that will get us to this week’s topic. As I was listening to Priest=Aura, The Church’s 1992 release which is a standout in their rather long discography, I said to myself, “I can’t write about this. It’s just vibes.” After saying this, I thought to myself, vibes are a good thing to write about; I like vibes. You know what are vibes? Vibraphones. Boom, we’ve gotten to this week’s topic.

If you are not aware, the vibraphone is a three-octave percussion instrument that is played by striking tuned metal bars with mallets. This instrument is different from a xylophone or marimba because it can be equipped with a motor, which will spin fans located inside of the resonator tubes. These fans give the instrument its distinctive vibrato.

The vibraphone is one of my absolute favorite instruments. In the correct hands, it is a dynamic, emotive instrument that can stand on its own, pair well with a variety of solo instruments, or drive the melody of a larger ensemble. As well, because of its sonic flexibility, it allows for a variety of different playing styles, which I will address below. While you can hear the vibraphone in many different genres of music, I’m going to focus on jazz, which is where I know it from best.

I’m going to break this post into two different parts. The first part is going to focus on classic vibraphonists who have become legends of the genre. The second part will focus on the modern vibraphonists, the folks who are taking the instrument and jazz in different directions.

Milt Jackson

I cannot write about the vibraphone and not talk about Milt Jackson. Jackson is one of the greatest vibraphonists of all time, both in terms of his actual technique and his influence on the genre of jazz. Jackson grew up in Detroit, and learned how to play the vibraphone after hearing Lionel Hampton play with Benny Goodman. At the age of 22, he was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie and became a part of his big band. During that time, he developed a working relationship with pianist John Lewis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Kenny Clarke. These four would branch out and become the Milt Jackson Quartet, which would later be renamed the Modern Jazz Quartet.

This group, with Percy Heath taking over for Brown and Connie Kay replacing Clark, worked together for two decades, with occasional reunions there after. When he was not recording with the MJQ, Jackson kept a busy solo recording schedule. While the music of the Modern Jazz Quartet tends towards a quieter formalism, Jackson’s solo material took on the higher energy of post-bop jazz. Jackson, both as a band member and bandleader, played with an immaculate, expressive style that resonates still today.

You can hear the hallmarks of his style—particularly his balance of harmonics and rhythm—in his work with the Modern Jazz Quartet. One of my favorite albums from the group is Lonely Woman, the band’s 1962 outing. The band provides the structure that lets Jackson roam on his vibraphone, bringing a swinging sensibility to the music. On tracks like “New York 19,” it’s exciting to listen to the bluesy Jackson play off the more composed Lewis as they exchange solos. In the quieter moments, the vibrato of Jackson’s vibraphone carries the song forward in dynamic, interesting ways.

In the position of bandleader, Jackson took a looser approach to his music. You can hear this on the recording of a concert he played at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965 with pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter, flutist James Moody, and drummer Candy Finch. In this hourlong set, the band runs through a collection of breezy, swinging tracks that reference jazz and Latin rhythms. It is a good place to hear what happened when Jackson was able to really let loose.

Bobby Hutcherson

While Jackson is still one of the best known vibraphonists in jazz, Bobby Hutcherson is one of the vibraphonists to push the instrument forward. Hutcherson brought faster tempos and more technicality to the instrument as well as deeper sense of melodicism. Hutcherson grew up in Los Angeles, and he decided to pick up the vibraphone after hearing Milt Jackson. Once he saved up and bought his own instrument, he began to play in various groups around the city. One of his groups took an east coast swing, and he ended up staying out there, jamming with legends like Herbie Hancock and becoming an in-demand sideman for Blue Note recording sessions.

The world began to understand his skills when they heard him on Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch, where he displayed his new, four-mallet style to a larger jazz audience. In addition, it showed that Hutcherson could conceptualize a more avant-garde form of jazz. This became apparent in his own work as a bandleader, particularly on his 1965 album Components.

While the first side of this album plays in a more traditional post-bop style, Hutcherson’s skill with melody and dynamics are plainly audible. He plays lead lines and displays a piano-like sensibility with his solos, introducing multiple resonances and harmonies. As we move into the second side, the band—bassist Ron Carter, flutist/saxophonist James Spaulding, pianist Herbie Hancock, drummer Joe Chambers, and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard—and Hutcherson really push hard into an avant-garde sound, coming close to free jazz. Even in this style, Hutcherson provides a very cool anchor, keeping the songs from completely sailing into the stratosphere. One such example is “Juba Dance,” where his vibraphone meshes well with Hancock’s piano and keeps the entire song rooted.

If you are used to the style of Jackson, listening to someone like Hutcherson is a massive change because of his ability to push the boundaries of the vibraphone. He is a legitimately interesting gentleman who would create a new dynamic for the future of the vibraphone.

Gary Burton

The other person who helped to create the new dynamic future is Gary Burton. Burton, due to his training in high school on the piano, created a new approach to the vibraphone. Using the same four-mallet approach as Hutcherson, Burton made the vibraphone sound like it is being played by two or three people rather than one.

Unlike the men above, Burton’s career did not start in jazz. Instead, he played as a sideman for Nashville musicians such as Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer. He eventually moved into jazz, becoming an important part of Stan Getz’s pianoless quartet in the mid-1960s. He would go on to become a bandleader in his own right, making recordings for a variety of labels. But, to really hear his innovations, the best place to look is his duet recordings.

One of the best of these is Crystal Silence, his 1973 duet with pianist Chick Corea. Corea and Burton develop a synergy that is phenomenal to hear. Corea introduces a variety of Latin rhythms into his piano playing, and Burton, without missing a step, swings with them, falling into easy grooves while displaying an absolutely phenomenal technique. The harmonics that he creates on this recording are amazing, true testaments to his mastery of the instrument.

The two men together create an album full of excellent melodies and show an interplay that is absolutely remarkable. While it stays at a cool simmer, the music is superb. These three men—Jackson, Hutcherson, and Burton—provide a clear foundation for the musicians that come to play an important role in keeping the vibraphone alive in today’s jazz.

Joel Ross

Much like I could not talk about vibraphone legends and not mention Jackson, I cannot talk about the new wave of vibraphonists and not mention Joel Ross. Recording for Blue Note, Ross is probably the best known of the new school. His style owes a lot to the work of the men that I mention above as well as his mentor, Stefon Harris, an extremely accomplished vibraphonist in his own right. Ross was also fortunate to grow up in Chicago, gaining the opportunity to play with greats such as Herbie Hancock and Gerald Clayton, among others, during his education.

In his work as a bandleader, Ross has a clear post-bop style. His runs are smooth and stylish, giving the music a cool swing while providing complex harmonies and melodies to serve as counterpoints. That said, he is versed in the many forms of jazz and brings them to light in his music when necessary. In his album from his year, Gospel Music, Ross and his band play music that incorporates Ross’s own history with gospel music. The resulting album is a transporting album, recalling the finest work from the spiritual jazz movement while still pushing a new paradigm forward.

Sasha Berliner

A vibraphonist who is also gaining recognition is Sasha Berliner. Much like Ross, her music leans into a post-bop/modal jazz style. That said, Berliner is also very willing to push beyond such simple confines, introducing complex rhythmic and harmonic elements into her vibraphone playing. In listening to her, I can feel the creative, boundary-pushing essence of Hutcherson, even though her style is very much her own.

On her 2025 album Fantome, the interplay between Berliner’s vibraphone and the band is electric. On “Construction,” there is a restlessness within the core melody, one that is picked up on in the solos that punctuate the song. Over time, there develops an interesting interplay between Berliner and bassist Harish Raghaven, one that pushes the music forward; this is punctuated by the sharp drumming of Jongkuk Kim and the piano work of Taylor Eigsti. The entire album does an excellent job of building solid melodic foundations and pushing them in interesting directions through solos and interplay.

Patricia Brennan

One of the things that I have appreciated about the current wave of jazz is how much artists are willing to push the confines of the genre. There are artists like Kassa Overall and Theo Croker who are bringing hip-hop, funk and R&B into the form. There are also artists like Patricia Brennan, the Mexican vibraphonist and composer who integrates more classical composition into her music.

On her albums, particularly her 2024 album Breaking Stretch and her 2025 album Of The Near And Far, you can hear the classical elements blending into a complex jazz core that is heavily influenced by Latin and African influences as well as electronic elements. Brennan’s vibraphone takes on a strong melodic position in the sound, expanding the possibilities for interplay within the songs. Her playing is dizzyingly technical, as she plays complex lines with a blinding speed. Even with the technicality, Brennan is still able to bring out emotion through her playing, highlighting her true control. Her compositions are genuinely fascinating because of how they play with and expand conceptualizations of jazz.

Yuhan Su

The last artist that I’ll talk about is Yuhan Su, a Taiwanese vibraphonist who plays a thoroughly contemporary form of jazz. A successor of the technical intricacy of Burton and Hutcherson, Su’s playing is dizzying in its dynamism and complexity.

Su has been taking great steps in her composition, and the results can be heard on her 2025 album Over The Moons. Here, Su leads her octet through a challenging set of avant-garde compositions, one that play with difficult rhythms and create fascinating juxtapositions. On “Two Moons,” Su’s vibraphone serves as the anchor as the rest of the instruments create a fascinating, impressionistic soundscape. It is not as chaotic as the album opener, but it still has many layers of rhythmic and melodic complexity.

In the process of researching this dispatch, the albums that stood out to me the most were the 2025 albums from Su and Brennan. Both of them displayed virtuosic vibraphone playing as well as an ability to push jazz composition into new, interesting areas that created exciting possibilities for the future. Furthermore, they were genuinely delightful albums to listen to, ones that warmed my cold, cold heart. As well, Crystal Silence is a masterpiece that is worth your time. You won’t be mad that you listened to it.

Hopefully, this has encouraged you to go listen to some vibraphone jazz. If it hasn’t, wait until the end of the week when I put out a new Spins that should be pretty busy with releases from new and old cult legends. Until that time, please take care of yourselves and each other. Pass this along to someone you know, and pet a dog or cat if they are OK with it. And, as always, don’t let corporations force you into believing that you need AI. You don’t need to do their homework for them.