Joe Roland

A fine bop-oriented vibraphonist, Joe Roland was best known in jazz during the 1950s. He started off as a clarinetist and studied at the Institute of Musical Art in New York during 1937-1939. In 1940 Roland began playing xylophone and a few years later switched to vibes, freelancing around New York. He was very open to the innovations of bop and soon had a modern combo of his own. Roland was a member of the George Shearing Quintet (1951-1953), worked with Howard McGhee, and was with Artie Shaw & His Gramercy Five (1953-1954). He also worked with Mat Mathews and Aaron Sachs later in the '50s. As a leader, Joe Roland recorded two titles for Rainbow (1949), four numbers with a string section for Savoy (1950), a few titles on the Seeco label (1953-1954), nine songs for Savoy (1954), and a full album with his quintet — which included Freddie Redd — for Bethlehem (1955).