Dizzy Gillespie Afro

Afro (1954). Pairing Dizzy Gillespie with Cuban arranger/composer Chico O'Farrill produced a stunning session which originally made up the first half of a Norgran LP. O'Farrill conducts an expanded orchestra which combines a jazz band with a Latin rhythm section; among the participants in the four-part "Manteca Suite" are trumpeters Quincy Jones and Ernie Royal, trombonist J.J. Johnson, tenor saxophonists Hank Mobley and Lucky Thompson, and conga player Mongo Santamaria. "Manteca," written during the previous decade, serves as an exciting opening movement, while the next two segments build upon this famous theme, though they are jointly credited to O'Farrill as well. "Rhumba-Finale" is straight-ahead jazz with some delicious solo work by Gillespie…

Here we have a summit meeting late in the careers of the pioneering titans of Afro-Cuban jazz: Dizzy Gillespie fronting the Machito orchestra on trumpet, with Mario Bauza as music director, alto saxophonist/clarinetist, and organizing force, and Chico O'Farrill contributing the compositions and arrangements. This could have been just a nostalgic retro gathering 25 years after the fact, but instead, these guys put forth an ambitious effort to push the boundaries of the idiom. The centerpiece is a 15-minute trumpet concerto for Gillespie called "Oro, Incienso y Mirra," where O'Farrill melts dissonant clusters, electric piano comping, and synthesizer decorations together with hot Afro-Cuban rhythms into a coherent, multi-sectioned tour de force…

In the summer of 1956, the famed Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell arranged for Dizzy Gillespie to embark on a worldwide goodwill-ambassador tour sponsored by the State Department. Gillespie and an all-star big band featuring trumpeter Quincy Jones, the late trombonist Melba Liston, alto saxophonist Phil Woods, and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson performed in Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil to frenzied, beret-wearing fans. Recordings were made but they weren't commercially available and were played only for a select group of musicians before Gillespie's death in 1993. Now the sides have been released, showcasing Dizzy at his bebopping best.

All of the music on this CD was recorded by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in Paris during a one-month period in 1952. The first half of the set teams Gillespie with tenor saxophonist Don Byas, who had moved to Europe from the U.S. six years earlier. The sextet alternates swing standards with some boppish originals and Afro-Cuban jazz pieces. The performances are pretty concise, and one wishes that Gillespie and Byas had had opportunities to really stretch out and inspire each other. The final dozen selections mostly feature the trumpeter backed by a string orchestra with arrangements from Jo Boyer or Daniel White. The repertoire is comprised of swing tunes, but Dizzy's melodic statements are still pretty adventurous…

All of the music on this CD was recorded by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in Paris during a one-month period in 1952. The first half of the set teams Gillespie with tenor saxophonist Don Byas, who had moved to Europe from the U.S. six years earlier. The sextet alternates swing standards with some boppish originals and Afro-Cuban jazz pieces. The performances are pretty concise, and one wishes that Gillespie and Byas had had opportunities to really stretch out and inspire each other. The final dozen selections mostly feature the trumpeter backed by a string orchestra with arrangements from Jo Boyer or Daniel White. The repertoire is comprised of swing tunes, but Dizzy's melodic statements are still pretty adventurous…

All of the music on this CD was recorded by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in Paris during a one-month period in 1952. The first half of the set teams Gillespie with tenor saxophonist Don Byas, who had moved to Europe from the U.S. six years earlier. The sextet alternates swing standards with some boppish originals and Afro-Cuban jazz pieces. The performances are pretty concise, and one wishes that Gillespie and Byas had had opportunities to really stretch out and inspire each other. The final dozen selections mostly feature the trumpeter backed by a string orchestra with arrangements from Jo Boyer or Daniel White. The repertoire is comprised of swing tunes, but Dizzy's melodic statements are still pretty adventurous…

This single CD reissues all of the music from two rare Dizzy Gillespie LPs. Dating from 1963-64, the set features the trumpeter's interpretation of the score of the obscure film The Cool World (although these are not the actual performances heard in the movie) plus 11 themes from other films. Gillespie, who is joined by James Moody (on tenor, alto and flute), pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Chris White and drummer Rudy Collins, was in peak form during that era and hopefully all of his other Philips recordings will also be reissued by Verve in the future. Although the liner notes deal only with The Cool World, the other set is actually of greater interest. Gillespie uplifts such tunes as the "Theme from Exodus," "Moon River," "Days of Wine and Roses," "Never on Sunday" and "Walk on the Wild Side," turning them into swinging jazz. The Cool World pieces (all composed by Mal Waldron) are also worth hearing although they are not as memorable overall. This set is a real historical curiosity and, although not essential, it is a release that should please Dizzy Gillespie fans while reminding others of how great a trumpeter he was before his long decline.

A strangely popular album for Dizzy Gillespie, Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac represents a period in his career where he was adapting to the times, keeping his goof factor on board, and individually playing as well as he ever had. This club date, recorded over two days circa May of 1967 from The Memory Lane in Los Angeles, has Gillespie with soon to be longtime partners James Moody and Mike Longo, joking and jiving with their audience, presenting a relatively short program of modified pop tunes and one of the trumpeter's most revered compositions. Drummer Otis "Candy" Finch is more than up to the task, but electric bass guitarist Frank Schifano is the weak link, playing basic lines, or unfortunately out of tune. Longo moves from acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes, while Moody's tenor or alto sax and flute are as distinctive as ever…