Jack Gibbons

Jack Gibbons earned the description “the Gershwin pianist of our time” through performances that fully justified the label. Across four distinctive albums issued by Britain’s ASV imprint, he painstakingly reconstructed and committed to disc nearly every piano improvisation preserved in George Gershwin’s own 1920s and 1930s recordings, together with the composer’s original piano arrangements. In doing so, Gibbons not only reproduced the written notes but also recaptured the distinctive character of Gershwin’s playing. He began studying the piano in childhood, appeared before audiences at the age of ten, and made his London debut at seventeen. Although his principal focus has been the classical repertoire performed with orchestras, he received youthful prizes for interpretations of works by Liszt, Chopin, and Alkan. Gibbons entered the recording studio for classical projects in 1992, yet it is his restorations of George Gershwin’s musical legacy that remain his most widely recognized achievement.