Frank Zipperer Photography

Jerry Gentry plays the acoustic and electric vibraphone, the xylophone, and assorted bar percussion instruments. He was raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and began playing music in the mid-sixties. Amid the local country music and the omnipresent rock on FM radio, the sounds of Motown leapt out: the beat, the harmony, and the vibraphone in the foreground all contributed to his musical orientation. By fusing the disciplines of classical technique with the realities of popular music; by mixing the influences of pop, rock, and avant-garde improvisation; and by playing the vibraphone over many years in myriad settings: he has created a different dialect in the language of vibes. The spring of 2009 saw the completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree in music composition from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland; and the spring of 2012 is looking at a collection of music, theory and philosophy entitled “New Vibe Resources.”

Appearing courtesy of Write Off Records