1964 · Album
Something's Coming
Recorded 1963 · RCA · Personnel: Gary Burton (vibraphone), Jim Hall (guitar), Chuck Israels (bass), Larry Bunker (drums)
Four Musicians Finding Their Voice Together
Burton was developing rapidly into a fresh voice on vibes, surrounded by three musicians who understood Bill Evans's world.
In 1963, Gary Burton walked into the studio with three sidemen who shared a common thread: all three had worked with pianist Bill Evans, and all three understood the kind of listening that Evans demanded. Jim Hall on guitar, Chuck Israels on bass, and Larry Bunker on drums were not session players hired for the day — they were musicians who had already spent time in close quarters with one of jazz's most demanding intellects. That shared vocabulary mattered. Burton was early in his career, still figuring out how to make the vibraphone speak without sounding decorative, and this particular group gave him room to do it.
What ended up on tape was clean and purposeful. The group had chemistry that didn't need to be forced, and the recording captures Burton finding his footing as a leader. He wasn't yet the virtuoso he would become, but there was something there worth hearing — a willingness to leave space, to listen to what the others were doing. Hall especially seemed to bring out something direct in Burton's playing. AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow heard it too, noting that Burton was "rapidly developing into a fresh new voice on the vibes" on what was his third album as a leader.
This isn't a masterpiece that changed jazz history. It's a solid, listenable record that documents a moment when Burton was still becoming himself, surrounded by musicians good enough to keep him honest. If you're curious about where Burton came from before he became the virtuoso of later decades, Something's Coming! (1964) shows him at a stage where the work still felt open-ended.
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More by Gary Burton
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The musicians on this record
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