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Jazz Articles about Dizzy Gillespie
Charlie Parker: The Savoy 10-inch LP Collection
by Kyle Simpler
Charlie Parker is one of the most important musicians in jazz history and a household name even for people who never listen to jazz. His music is like a textbook for aspiring jazz musicians, and it still sounds modern even after more than a half century since its creation. 2020 marks the centennial of Parker's birth, and to help commemorate the anniversary, Craft Recordings has released a vinyl box set containing the first four “The New Sounds in Modern Music" ...
Continue ReadingJazz and the Meaning of Life
by Douglas Groothuis
I find jazz meaningful and delightful for a happy riot of reasons: its grand tradition and respect for standards, its uniquely American (but also global) identity, its breaking of color barriers, its persistence through changing musical fashions (jazz will never die), its courageous freedom within beautiful forms, and more. Therefore, I was fascinated to find that the prolific literary critic and philosopher Terry Eagleton likens the meaning of life to a jazz performance. That sounds promising! In his ...
Continue ReadingThat Dizzy Cat - Dizzy Gillespie (1945 - 1948)
by Russell Perry
Dizzy Gillespie grew up professionally playing in the big bands of Teddy Hill, Cab Calloway, Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine and writing for Woody Herman and Jimmy Dorsey. The wartime economy with its shortages and the musician's strike of the early 1940s led Gillespie to focus on small combos for his own projects, including his seminal collaborations with Charlie Parker in 1945—1946. However, Dizzy returned whenever he could to the big band format and by mid-1946 he was fronting the ...
Continue ReadingThe Birth of Bebop (1939 - 1945)
by Russell Perry
"By the early 1940s... a new approach to small-combo jazz playing was developing, characterized by a more flexible approach to rhythm, a more aggressive pursuit of instrumental virtuosity, and an increasingly adventurous harmonic language."--Scott Deveaux Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Coleman Hawkins -the pioneers of Bebop. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Cab Calloway and his Orchestra. “Pickin the Cabbage" from Cab Calloway-- The Chu & Dizzy Years (Hep) 3:23 Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra. “Little ...
Continue Reading“Harlem 1958” - Celebrazione di un evento irripetibile
by Gaetano Fiore
Una foto, semplicemente una “foto," non uno scatto veloce, affrettato o rassicurante come per il “digitale," bensì qualcosa di tangibile, quasi materico, che fa pensare a quanta fatica e desiderio siano stati spesi per generare un'immagine tanto bella e significativa. Sì, un'immagine poi diventata manifesto emblematico nonché straordinaria celebrazione di un evento irripetibile. Appassionati, conoscitori, esperti di jazz hanno saputo interiorizzarla, metabolizzarla da quel fatidico giorno di una lontana e calda estate. Era il 12 agosto del 1958.
Continue ReadingDizzy Gillespie: Concert of the Century - Tribute to Charlie Parker
by Stefano Merighi
Queste incisioni dal vivo a Montreal erano uscite in LP in quantità limitata. Dopo 30 anni, l'edizione in CD aggiunge quasi mezzora di musica e varia di poco la scaletta musicale. Il concerto è del novembre 1980 e trova questo sestetto di veterani del bop ancora abbastanza in forma, sia anagrafica che artistica, considerando il fatto che gli anni '80 non erano certo il periodo più favorevole per questo tipo di revival. L'operazione ricalca un po' quella dei ...
Continue ReadingDizzy Gillespie: Concert of the Century - Tribute to Charlie Parker
by Mark E. Gallo
This superb album was recorded at the Montreal Jazz Festival in November of 1980. All of the principals have passed on, so it's that much more of a treat. Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie fronted the group of Ray Brown (bass), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Hank Jones (piano), Philly Joe Jones (drums) and James Moody (tenor sax and flute), and the few thousand folks in attendance must have been delirious with joy. What a magnificent collection of musical geniuses. The tribute ...
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