1 I had a good day at the record store on Monday that sparked a deep dive into the corners of Detroit jazz history. If you’re curious, please come along for the ride.

2 I'm not a 45-rpm collector—there but for the grace of God and all that—but I happened upon a true rarity at Street Corner Music just north of Detroit: a 1966 single by the Jimmy Wilkins Orchestra featuring the great Detroit bebop pianist Terry Pollard (who also played vibes).

3 Before I go any further, here’s Pollard in 1956 lighting the stage on fire with vibraphonist Terry Gibbs on the "Tonight Show." She plays both piano and vibes. Watch this, and after you pick your jaw off the floor, keep reading.

4 These Wilkins sides never appeared on LP and have never been reissued. Unless I am overlooking something, it’s the last recorded solo by Pollard. She enjoyed a brief flash of national fame through the mid-‘50s, before returning home to Detroit raise a family.

5 Pollard worked regularly in Detroit with her own trio and occasionally backed national figures coming through town, until she suffered a stroke in 1978. She never again performed publicly and died in 2009 at age 78. More on her career and playing in a moment.

6 The St. Louis-born Jimmy Wilkins was a trombonist who led a big band around Detroit for decades. He’s the brother of the better-known arranger and saxophonist Ernie Wilkins, but Jimmy also had his time in the national spotlight as a member of the Count Basie band in the 1950s.

7 In fact, as Marc Myers noted in setting up a terrific interview with Wilkins at @JazzWax, at the time of the trombonist's death in 2018 at 97, he was the last surviving original member of Basie’s “New Testament Band” that came together in 1951-52. https://www.jazzwax.com/2018/08/jimmy-wilkins-1921-2018.html

8 In the mid ‘60s, Wilkins recorded two 45s (four sides) for the Pampa label based in Warren, Michigan. The one I found Monday is the first of these. It’s in excellent condition. Here's a photo of the B side.

9 Both sides are terrific as the band addresses two Basie-like numbers with polished execution, charismatic swing, and a gleaming esprit de corps. Pollard plays a gaggle of relaxed choruses on the blues “Snatchin’ It Back” by Ernie Wilkins.

10 Pollard had been part of the legendary house band at the Blue Bird Inn in Detroit in 1952-53 led by Billy Mitchell & featuring Thad Jones, Elvin Jones & Beans Richardson. They cut four tunes for Dee Gee Records, including this blues, “Compulsory.”

11 Pollard starts "Compulsory" on piano but solos on vibes. That’s probably Thad on piano behind her. Dig Elvin! This is his recording debut and you can already hear his unique cymbal beat and hints of the floating triplet. The recording date is unknown but likely early/mid ’53.

12 Pollard left town to join Terry Gibbs’ quartet in August '53. (Tommy Flanagan replaced her in the Blue Bird band.) Gibbs had heard Pollard at the Blue Bird when in town with his own group. She made several LPs w/Gibbs & recorded her debut as leader for Bethlehem in Jan. ’55.

13 Here’s Bird’s “Scrapple From the Apple” from that record. (The clip is erroneously titled.) With fellow Detroiter Herman Wright on bass & Frank DeVito on drums. Pollard knew her Bud Powell & there is some Horace Silver funkiness in there too.

14 You can hear Horace (first solo) & Pollard (second solo) on a 1954 battle-of-the-sexes date produced by Leonard Feather, "Cats vs. Chicks." Guitarists Tal Farlow/Mary Osborne & trumpeters Clark Terry/Norma also duke it out. w/Percy Heath & Kenny Clarke.

15 By the late ‘50s, Pollard had resettled in Detroit & was working and recording with Yusef Lateef. Her last recording prior to this Wilkins single was in support of Detroit-born harpist Dorothy Ashby on the 1961 LP “Soft Winds” (Jazzland).

16 I wish I had been able to devote a chapter to Pollard in my book, Jazz From Detroit. She more than deserves it, for her ferocious bebop playing and as one of the few woman instrumentalists working in the top echelons of modern jazz in the 1950s. She was was a pioneer.