Vibraphonist Behn Gillece has been a fixture on the New York jazz scene for the past decade, notably in his project with one of this era’s great tenor sax player/composers, Ken Fowser. Gillece also has a cooker of a new album, Walk Of Fire due out mid-month from Posi-Tone Records and a show coming up on August 5 at 10:30 PM at his Manhattan home base, Smalls. Cover is the usual $20. This is the ...Read More

It takes but one ‘third’ to recognise the ‘hand’ of Art Tatum in ‘Willow Weep for Me’, a ‘flatted fifth’ to pick out Charlie Parker in any orchestral line up, a ‘seventh’ to do the same with Milt Jackson and while it may take a little while to pick out Behn Gillece from a flurry of notes, his vivid harmonic approach to the vibraphone is fast becoming his indelible signature, qu ...Read More

As crazy as it may sound, learning how to be your true self doesn‘t happen overnight. It takes quite a while for musicians to get comfortable in their own skin, find their real voice, and dare to move forward toward their musical ideal. For vibraphonist Behn Gillece, that level of comfort is now a reality and the moment is right and ripe for such a move. After releasing a series of well received ...Read More

There should be a law that compels every vibraphonist on the jazz scene to record one album per year with a guitarist.  Of the pool of possible combinations, the marriage of those two instruments is one of the happier pairings there is, and this holds true whether the form of expression is one that stretches out to the fringes of jazz or if the music plants itself dead center in jazz territory.  ...Read More

When it comes to jazz vibraphone, the names of Stefon Harris and Warren Wolf are most likely to be found on a list of contemporary leaders. Add to that now the name of Behn Gillece, a gentleman who has been honing his skills on the New York scene since 2006. His talents first came to the attention of this reviewer having been a spirited voice on Walt Weiskopf‘s most recent albums, Overdrive ...Read More

The vibe ace might have dedicated this set to Gary Burton, but he tips the cap to Bobby Hutcherson as well.  And he probably has Milt Jackson in the back of his mind.  A different sounding set that what he’s turned in on past dates, Gillece is in command of his ax as well as his position as a leader.  Quite an engaging date that’s a real tonic for jaded (Tjaded?) ears, this is a swell servi ...Read More