NPR Jazz: Bobby Hutcherson, Jazz Vibraphone Modernist, Has Died

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Bobby Hutcherson, Jazz Vibraphone Modernist, Has Died Posted: 16 Aug 2016 01:43 PM PDT Bobby Hutcherson performs at the Monterey Jazz Festival, in Monterey, Calif. in 2013.Craig Lovell/Corbis via Getty Images Bobby Hutcherson, a vibraphonist whose improvising and composition helped to define modernity for jazz as a whole, has died. He had long struggled with emphysema. He was 75. MUSIC INTERVIEWS Interview: Bobby Hutcherson's Good Vibes For Fiery Times As a mallet percussionist, he expanded the scope of what was possible on his instrument. And the sound he created was widely influential. It was a far cry from his first public performance. Inspired by pioneering jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson, a teenaged Hutcherson formed a band with his friend from school, bassist Herbie Lewis. Hutcherson hadn't taken any lessons, but Lewis marked up the vibraphone with which notes to play and when. It was a system that worked great in practice — but then they entered a contest ... in front of people. Here's how Bobby Hutcherson told the story to NPR in 2001.