Monterey Festival

Dizzy Gillespie - A Musical Safari: Live At The 1961 Monterey Jazz Festival (2015) {Solar Records 4569957}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 501 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 186 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 135 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remastered
© 1961, 2015 Solar Records | 4569957
Jazz / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Bop / Bossa Nova / Trumpet

This edition presents, for the first time ever on CD, Dizzy Gillespie's complete performance at the 1961 Monterey Jazz Festival. While humorously introduced by Diz as “A Musical Safari”, the set is a mixture of the repertoire the quintet was playing during that period, including an excursion into the realm of bossa nova. The quintet features the wonderful Leo Wright and Argentinean pianist Lalo Schifrin, as well as singer Joe Carroll on one track.

For Monk fans, these Mo-Fis are must-haves. Wow! After releasing so many mediocre rock albums, Mobile Fidelity came through with not one but TWO shiny gold CDs by the enigmatic, lovable Thelonious Monk (accompanied in these live recordings by Charlie Rouse on sax, John Ore on bass, and Frank Dunlop on drums)….

The second volume of Thelonious Monk's appearance at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival is drawn from two separate concerts on back to back days, with the pianist joined by longtime tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist John Ore and drummer Frank Dunlop…

Thelonious Monk played at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1963 and created a buzz so strong he was invited back the following year. His one-hour set from 1964 is available here, featuring his quartet through the first forty minutes. Tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse and drummer Ben Riley are joined by Steve Swallow on upright acoustic bass loaned from the Art Farmer group, whom he performed with at the event. Having studied Monk's music and played it with Steve Lacy, Swallow was ready to jump into the fray for his first-ever performance with Monk, having not even spoken with the pianist up to show time. He sounds very comfortable, swinging effortlessly, playing mostly quarter notes throughout the concert, but rarely straying off the path…

Blues vocalist Jimmy Witherspoon is at the peak of his performing career during this 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival set, where he is backed by a young but enthusiastic electric band that he had recruited after hearing them open for him in a club the previous year. Witherspoon is in a playful mood, frequently speaking to the crowd. The program is filled with several Witherspoon's most popular numbers, including the humorous "I'm Going to Move to the Outskirts of Town," "Kansas City," and "Early One Morning." Following his raucous take of "Walkin' by Myself," the stage curtain is evidently pulled prematurely, provoking an extended outburst from the singer, who repeatedly threatens to cut the curtain with his knife to the delight of the crowd…