Terry Pollard
piano, vibraphone
Detroit pianist and vibraphonist of Barry’s generation who played with Terry Gibbs; Barry calls her perhaps the greatest woman jazz pianist, and one of the young players who played better than he did.
- mentions
- 4
- recordings
- 2
- Barry speaking
- 4
What Barry says
In the Artists House interview Barry brings up a woman pianist most people don’t know: Terry Pollard, then in a nursing home in the Bronx after an aneurysm, who never played in public again. He says she was the best, one of the greatest pianists.
She played with Terry Gibbs, and Barry urges listeners to hear her play. She was good at 17 and better than the rest of them because she had perfect pitch: while they struggled to learn, she could play in any key, F sharp included.
In the oral history he calls her brilliant, perhaps the greatest woman jazz pianist, and part of their Detroit circle; she went to Miller High School like Kenny Burrell. He suggests looking up film of her playing with Terry Gibbs.
Asked which musicians affected him, Barry says Tommy Flanagan, Terry Pollard and Will Davis all played better than he did, so he watched them. Pollard was not older than him; she was about his age, perhaps a little younger.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶143Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶145
Explaining that his generation of pianists played with two hands, Barry says he learned by looking over Flanagan’s shoulder, and that Flanagan and Pollard really could play.
Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - Student Interviews After Concert9:3310:06
Pollard died on 16 December, the day after Barry’s birthday, the year before the 2010 oral history.
In his own words
She had an aneurysm and she never played out in public again. But she was the best. Her name was Terry Pollard.
along with Terry Pollard, who most people don’t know. She might have been the greatest jazz woman on the piano.
Tommy Flannigan played better. Terry Pollard played better, Will Davis played better than me, so I watched them.
see between tommy flanagan and terry pollard see they really could play you know
Every mention
4 moments in the recordings, 4 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Detroit and after
Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - Student Interviews After Concert
- 10:06
Flanagan and Pollard really could play; Barry learned by looking over Flanagan’s shoulder.
In the interviews and notes
Pollard went to Miller High School, as Kenny Burrell did. Barry says few people know her but she might have been the greatest woman jazz pianist; he suggests finding film of her with Terry Gibbs, and notes she had died the previous December, the day after his birthday.
Asked who affected him, Barry says Flanagan, Pollard and Will Davis played better than he did, so he watched them. Pollard was about his age, maybe a little younger.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶143Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶145
Flanagan remembers Pollard as a fine pianist, one of the women playing piano in Detroit, who also had the piano job at the Bluebird for a time.
Ted Panken (interviewer); Tommy Flanagan, Tommy Flanagan ¶23Ted Panken (interviewer); Tommy Flanagan, Tommy Flanagan ¶28
Panken lists Pollard, with Tommy Flanagan and Roland Hanna, among the pianists in Barry’s Detroit peer group.
De Lima names Pollard among the Detroit musicians who influenced Barry as a teenager and helped form the Detroit sound behind his teaching.
Brian Jude de Lima, Reanimating Dissonance: Cultivating the Antecedents of Barry Harris’ Concept of Movement as a Multidimensional Pedagogical Tool for Ontario Post-Secondary Jazz Curricula ¶1301Brian Jude de Lima, Reanimating Dissonance: Cultivating the Antecedents of Barry Harris’ Concept of Movement as a Multidimensional Pedagogical Tool for Ontario Post-Secondary Jazz Curricula ¶1345
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.