Elmer Gibson was born on March 8, 1940 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of four, Elmer's musical education began; his parents enrolled him in the Hamilton School of Music, where he studied the piano for three years. Because of his father's Army career, which necessitated much travel, Elmer moved about often and for periods of time continued his studies on his own.

In 1960, after returning to his home town, Elmer formed his own trio and began working in small clubs in the Philadelphia area. During the fourteen-year period that followed, he experimented with various instrumental combinations for which he wrote and arranged numerous works. When not performing with his own group he worked with local and nationally known artists many of whom he met at "jam sessions" which were common in those days. The most notable of these musicians were Dakota Staton, Al Grey, Frank Foster, Kenny Durham, Cat Anderson, Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Trudy Pitts, Mr. "C", Sonny Fortune, Stan Clark, Grover Washington, Buster Williams, Hubert Laws, Ron Carter, Gary Bartz and Shirley Scott.

In 1974 Elmer joined the Norman Connors Band which featured vocalist Jean Carn. As pianist and musical director for the group, with the responsibility of arranging the music and conducting rehearsals, Elmer toured with Norman from 1974 to 1976, appearing in Norway, West Germany, France, Spain, Japan and Canada. During that period he also appeared on two Norman Connors albums recorded on the Buddha label: Dark of Light, and Slewfoot. Two of his original compositions, "Kumekucha" (Swahili for "The sun has risen") and "Chuka" (Swahili for "Come down") can be heard on Norman's Love From the Sun and Slewfoot albums, respectively. Both compositions were mentioned in Downbeat and Record World magazines for particular notice and merit. In the United States, Elmer has toured the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West, performing at the Newport Jazz Festival and at the Berkeley Jazz Festival.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Elmer Co -founded, in July 1976 and is the president of Preservation Jazz Company, a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to spreading the awareness of Jazz as a medium of communication and as an art form. P.J.C. Inc. is the first organization of its kind in the State of North Carolina and is listed in the State Government's Resource Directory as Jazz Consultant. In this capacity the organization has worked with several agencies in setting up jazz programs. As consultants to the Durham Arts Council, working with the Durham Recreation Dept., P.J.C. Inc. developed the very successful summer "Jazz in the Parks" series held annually, since 1977, at many recreation facilities. A similar program was developed in the Raleigh Community.

In 1976 Elmer researched, developed and conducted the P.J.C. Inc. "Jazz Awareness Series", a five part lecture/demonstration program dealing with the historic, rhythmic, harmonic and melodic development of Jazz. The program was funded by; the National Endowment of the Arts, Washington, D.C., the North Carolina State Arts Council, Durham Arts Council, and both the Raleigh and Durham Recreation Departments. The first program of its kind funded by these agencies, the series was refunded three years in a row.

In 1981 P.J.C. Inc., was awarded a grassroots grant
to continue its Jazz Awareness Series during the upcoming fiscal year. In June of 1981 P.J.C. Inc. conducted a very successful three day mini-festival on the Fayetteville Street Mall in Raleigh sponsored by the North Carolina National Bank.

In 1981, P.J.C., Inc. started the first annual jazz festival in Raleigh, North Carolina and during the next six years brought the following artists to the area: Harol Vick, Sonny Fortune, Nat Adderly, Ahmad Jamal, Toots Thielemans, Shirley Scott and Bobby Durham, and Danny Richmond. In 1986, the City of Raleigh asked P.J.C. to create and assist in the develop-ment of a fall jazz festival which, over the past four years brought such notables as: McCoy Tyner, Buddy Rich, Mongo Santamaria and Phil Woods.

During that period, Elmer had performed in and around the State as a soloist and with various group combinations. In 1985,the principle string trio of the North Carolina Symphony premiered two of Elmer's original works: "Talking Piece" and "Themes on an African Mask". In that same year, "Themes" won a statewide competition for composers and has been performed on numerous occasions by a number of string trios around the State. In 1987, Elmer accompanied the world renowned comedian Steve Allen in his appearance with the North Carolina Symphony.

In 1989, Elmer won the Gold Award as music director, arranger and accompanist of the "Nina Freelon Duo" at the "National Musicfest U.S.A." competitions held in Philadelphia, PA.

Mr.Gibson is also a practicing commercial interior designer and space planner whose works have been constructed throughout The U.S. for over the past twenty years.