Dave Pike - "A Superior, Self-Taught Vibist"

Steven A. Cerra
Tuesday, November 10, 2015

“I always thought that Dave Pike was a real good player.” - Milt Jackson, Downbeat

“The electrically amplified set of metal bars, first made popular in jazz by Lionel Hampton, is known by many names-vibraphone, vibraharp, vibes and bells are some of its appellations. Dave Pike has another name for his set. He calls it the "steam table',' a humorous title, but one that has accuracy. Adjectives like "steamin' and "cookin', etc. have been used to signify playing with heat, or, to put it even more basically, swinging. The best jazz vibists have always realized the percussive nature of their instrument and have never allowed it to become a purveyor of bland sounds. While Dave Pike is a steamer, he is not a steam fitter. He is a dancer and a singer.

Let me qualify this. Pike's physical approach to the vibes is very active. On up tempos he seems to be interpreting his own modern dance; on ballads his toe work is gracefully in a ballet bag. Of course, you can’t see this on a record, but you can hear another example of his complete involvement with his instrument in the singing with which he underlines his playing. This is common practice among many pianists and vibists, but in Dave's case it is perhaps more intense. Most importantly, you can hear his playing. Inspired more by Charlie Parker and Bud Powell than by other vibists, his conception is original and becoming more so all the time.” - Ira Gitler (Pike’s Peak)

*** It's Time For Dave

Original Jazz Classics OJC 1951 Pike; Barry Harris (p); Reggie Workman (b); Billy Higgins (d). 1-2/61.

“A 1961 album declared It's Time For Dave Pike. It was and it wasn't. Pike's approach was both backward-looking, to the styles of Milt Jackson and Hamp, and also irretrievably time-locked, and though he returned to the States and to favour after an increasingly barren sojourn in Europe he's never quite recovered from the feeling that he's merely a bebop copyist on a lumpy and stiff-jointed instrument. Said album has finally returned via the OJC imprint and while it has its notable moments - the terse ballad It's Time the vintage bop bluster of Hot House - the record feels like it's going nowhere, which is what Pike did.” - Richard Cook and Brian Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 6th Ed.