Dizzy Gillespie

Part of Verve's Jazz in Paris series, Jazz in Paris: Cognac Blues features various tracks recorded by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie during the '50s in France. All of the material included in the series is stellar and makes for excellent listening. The tracks are not necessarily rare, but are often ignored in favor of the more popular late-'40s Gillespie material. Fans and collectors looking for a great compilation of Gillespie's work overseas should appreciate this.

It's a Dizzy Gillespie in flower-patterned Bermuda shorts that this CD gives us, a Dizzy playing the trumpet and singing in the shade of the plams growing on the beach of one's dreams. the same Diz who, in the film "A Night in Havana", proclaimed his faith in the future of a music gathering all the Afro-American currents together, and who practiced what he preached as early as 1948: fronting his legendary Big Band, whose echo can be heard here during "Whisper Not", Dizzy imposed Cu-Bop, a happy marriage of Jazz and Cuban rhythms that was celebrated in the enthusiasm and rage of youth. Since then, Dizzy has never given up his quest for the slightest sound to come from the guardian-mother Africa…

Finally available again after a 30-plus year absence from American shelves is the soundtrack to Shirley Clarke's gritty but brilliant 1964 film, Cool World, about young people growing up in Harlem. The score was written and arranged by pianist Mal Waldron but was performed and recorded by Dizzy Gillespie's quintet of the time. This set is one of Diz's best records of the 1960s (which is saying something), and one of the best jazz film scores period. Diz's band at the time included James Moody on tenor and flute, a young Kenny Barron on piano, bassist Chris White, and Rudy Collins on drums. The 11 cues that range between two and five minutes are deeply rooted in the language of hard bop and blues with some excellent, if brief, modal touches by Waldron…

These performances derive from two quintet concerts in Germany: early, 1953 (first 5 tunes) and December, 1961 (remainder). Dizzy is in prime form on both occasions. The first band (his undistinguished New York group of the time, Bill Graham with a few short bari solos) stays in the background, allows Diz to shine. The second quintet carries more weight with Lalo Schifrin (piano), Leo Wright (alto), and Mel Lewis subbing on drums. Schifrin was just coming into prominence as Dizzy's musical director, and he brought a lot of Latin energy and authenticity into the band. He had premiered his tango "Long Long Summer" a few weeks before at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Schifrin also takes some virtuosic piano solos. Typically an understated accompanist, Lewis steps forward and stirs things up though he doesn't actually solo…

Dizzy Gillespie (along with altoist Leo Wright, pianist Lalo Schfrin, bassist Bob Cunningham, and drummer Chuck Lampkin) were in peak form for this live performance. Their versions of "Kush," "Salt Peanuts," and "The Mooche" are all excellent, but it is "A Night in Tunisia," with its absolutely stunning trumpet break (which lasts half a chorus), that is most memorable.

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…