This well-conceived project delves into the lighter, less boppish side of Dizzy Gillespie by focusing on his fusion of jazz and tropical rhythms. The material ranges from two gentle Jobim tracks (Diz was playing "Desafinado" before Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd sparked a bossa nova craze with it in the '60s) to a pair of Cubop christenings cowritten by Gillespie and the great percussionist Chano Pozo to three movements from Lalo Schifrin's "Gillespiana Suite." Guest vocalist Chris White shamelessly mugs his way through "Barbados Carnival," and former Gillespie drummer Ignacio Berroa kicks and ricochets the beats of "Tin Tin Deo" like Buddy Rich. This celebratory abandon is neatly balanced by gorgeous takes on Jobim's "Black Orpheus" and Dizzy's "Winter Samba," the latter introduced by Duduka Da Fonseca's resonant berimbau. The brightest light among the all-star cast (Mulgrew Miller, Don Braden, James Moody, Slide Hampton) is trumpeter and ensemble director Jon Faddis, a stone Gillespie disciple who approximates Dizzy's amiable virtuosity with some of his own trademark, high-pitched fanfare. But the most pleasant surprise is guitarist Chuck Loeb, whose work on "Ole" and "Winter Samba," among others, is far superior to the somnambulant prettiness and technical noodling of his previous output. --Britt Robson
Dizzy's World,Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars,Shanachie,Bop,Brazilian Jazz,Hard Bop,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop,Post-Bop
Jazz Music:
- Eddie Harris Goes to the Movies/Mighty Like a Rose
- Eddie Higgins
- Electric Connection/King Kong
- Este Camino Largo [Import]
- Face to Face
- Find Yourself (Then Find Me)
- For You [Import]
- Get Lei'd!
- Good and Plenty [Import]
- Groovin' In Tongues
Jazz Music
Jazz Festival V.5: Be Bop & Hard Bop [Import]
Music: Freudiana (1989 Studio Cast) [Import] [Cast Recording
In Your Head [Explicit Lyrics]
Love Train: the Best of [Import]
June 29, 2002 Kansas City, MO: On the Road [Live]
Kancheli: Styx, Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto