John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality provided one of bebop’s most prominent symbols.
In the 1940s, Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Jon Faddis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Chuck Mangione, and balladeer Johnny Hartman.
Scott Yanow wrote, “Dizzy Gillespie’s contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up being similar to those of Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis’s emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy’s style was successfully recreated [….] Gillespie is remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time”.
Afro is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, released in 1954 on the Norgran label.[1] Gillespie worked with many Cuban musicians on the album. (wikipedia)
Pairing Dizzy Gillespie with Cuban arranger/composer Chico O’Farrill produced a stunning session which originally made up the first half of a Norgran LP.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.
A later small-group session features the trumpeter with an all-Latin rhythm section and flutist Gilberto Valdes, who is heard on “A Night in Tunisia” and “Caravan.” Both of the Latin versions of these pieces are far more interesting than “Con Alma,” as the excessive percussion and dull piano accompaniment add little to this normally captivating theme. Long out of print, this 2002 CD reissue will only be available until May 2005; it is well worth acquiring. (by Ken Dryden)
Personnel:
Danny Bank (saxophone on 01. – 04.)
Cándido Camero (percussion)
Leon Comegys (trombone on 01. – 04.)
George Dorsey (saxophone on 01. – 04.)
Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet)
Lou Hackney (bass on 01. – 04.)
Réne Hernandez (piano on 05. – 07.)
Hilton Jefferson (saxophone on 01. – 04.)
J. J. Johnson (trombone on 01. – 04.)
Quincy Jones (trumpet)
Wade Legge (piano on 01. – 04.)
José Mangual (percussion)
George Matthews – trombone on 01. – 04.)
Ralph Miranda (percussion on 05. – 07.)
Hank Mobley (saxophone on 01. – 04.)
Ubaldo Nieto (timbales)
Jimmy Nottingham (trumpet)
Charlie Persip (drums on 01. – 04.)
Roberto Rodríguez (bass)
Ernie Royal (trumpet on 01. – 04.)
Mongo Santamaria (percussion on 01. – 04.)
Lucky Thompson (saxophone on 01. – 04.)
Gilbert Valdez (flute on 05. – 07.)
Tracklist:
01. Manteca Theme (Fuller/Gillespie/Pozo) – 4:10
“Contraste” (Gillespie, Chico O’Farrill, Pozo) – 2:45
“Jungla” (Gillespie, O’Farrill, Pozo) – 4:44
“Rhumba Finale” (Gillespie, O’Farrill, Pozo) – 4:43
“A Night in Tunisia” (Gillespie, Frank Paparelli) – 4:19
“Con Alma” (Gillespie) – 5:05
“Caravan” (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol) – 7:19
More from Dizzy Gillespie:
Dr. John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (/ɡɪˈlɛspi/; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks, and his light-hearted personality provided some of bebop’s most prominent symbols.
The historic live Town Hall sessions by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker from 1945 have been discovered on an acetate pressing, and are transferred with digital enhancement to CD. Why this concert was not issued initially is understandable, but Ira Gitler’s informative and insightful liner notes suggest they likely were misplaced. What Gitler’s essential writing also reveals is that these dates were approximate by only weeks to the original studio recordings of these classics, and there was no small amount of controversy surrounding this revolutionary bebop. Clearly bop was a vehicle for intricate melodic invention followed by lengthy soloing, aspects of which Parker with Gillespie were perfectly suited for. Fact is, the situation surrounding the sonic capture and extended neglected shelf life of this performance was far from optimal.
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