Best Vibes in Jazz

Gary Burton, who used to play with Stan Getz, was one of the best in the 60's and 70's. Since I went to the same high school as Stan's sons at that time, we were lucky enough to hear him play in our school. Excellent player. Unfortunately, I don't know what label he recorded for (Verve? I think that was Getz's label, good chance it was Burton's too) or how well recorded he was, as at that time I was principally a rock/folk fan. Hopefully some of our other posters can fill you in on that information.

Well, the three great artists on jazz vibraphone should be a good starting point:
1. Lionel Hampton's recordings from the 1940's through the 1990's;
2. Milt Jackson's entire body of work with the Modern Jazz Quartet, plus albums done with others;
3. Gary Burton's entire body of work. My personal favorites of his work are the recordings done in the duo with Chick Corea (beginning with "Crystal Silence" around 1972-73).

Lionel Hampton! Lionel Hampton!

Abstract,Try to find these;
Dave Pike>>> Pike's Peak (Reissue Columbia LP is also great)
Bobby Hutcherson>>> Total Eclipse, Happenings, Stick Up, Cirrus, Good Bait
Milt Jackson>>> Plenty Plenty Soul (Atlantic)
This List to be added to the above great picks....Frank

Milt Jackson with the MJQ! "Django" on Prestige is just a great record (OJC vinyl reissue is quite good btw), but since this is an audiophone forum, check out just about any of the Atlantic releases (most were engineered by Tom Dowd) and also interesting is "Very Tall" with Milt J. and the Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown (nice MoFi lp and Verve cd reissue). And then there's the "Very Tall Band Reunion" on TelArc, featuring Milt J., Oscar & Ray B., recorded live at the Blue Note in NYC just a few years ago, only months before Milt J.'s death. (I was in the audience -- what a show!) Happy listening, Jim