Shake, Rattle and Roll

“Shake, rattle and roll”, yes there’s some good vibrations going on in Lala land once again. 5.4 on the Richter today! I lived in LA during the last big Northridge Quake, what a trip!   LA always reminds me of a concert I had the privilege to attend while out there. It was dedicated to Dizzy Gillespie and held at the Hollywood Bowl, “To Diz with Love-Celebrating the Dizzy Gillespie Diamond Jubilee,” with Slide Hampton as Musical Director-and of course playing his bone. Freddie Hubbard played the lead trumpet part, along with a fairly young Roy Hargrove. Clark Terry, Harry “Sweets” Edison and Claudio Roditi were also playing in the trumpet section. At one point Dizzy came on stage all decked out in a bright yellow leisure suit and, of course, received an immediate standing ovation.  Having been a fan of his since middle school, it was quite a treat.  James Moody, David Sanchez and Paquito D’Rivera held down the saxophone section.

If you haven’t been, the Hollywood Bowl is a wonderful place to see a show too.  Hope everyone out there is fine. 

Speaking of Mr. John Birks Gillespie, I read recently that he didn’t always play with his cheeks puffed out, but that as he got older he needed that extra muscular support to assist him.  Anyway, for the younger readers who don’t fully know, Dizzy is remembered as being the forefather and a principal founder of the jazz style known as Bebop and is credited for introducing the Afro Cuban style sounds into jazz. As a trumpeter, Dizzy literally founded an entire school of playing technique with his dazzling flights of notes, employing the entire range of the horn in harmonically intense solos. At some time in or around the early 1950’s, Dizzy began to explore the various music of other countries and cultures of the world. He is universally credited with being the catalyst behind introducing Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and Caribbean music and rhythms into the jazz scene. He felt strongly and stated “jazz celebrates the internationality of music, our common bond.” As an aside, he put himself forward as a presidential candidate in 1964, promising to rename the White House, the Blue House!

 Anyway, recently Gill Fuller has put together a nice remix of a 1965 concert at the Monterey Jazz Festival and has put out a nice two album set featuring the Diz on one and James Moody on another. Gil Fuller’s jazz credentials date back to the late-forties when he was the principal architect of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band with James Moody. Gil Fuller, an arranger, pulled together the cream of LA’s jazz and studio scenes around 1965 to form the Monterey Jazz Orchestra.  To preserve those great performances, in this recent release entitled, ‘Dizzy Gillespie & James Moody with Gil Fuller & the Monterey Jazz Festival,’ Fuller has pulled choice tunes from bebop, tin-pan-alley, and other contemporary originals of his old friends. The result is some exceptional playing from Gillespie and Moody. Both albums, newly remixed from the original three- and four-track master tapes, are complete on this 75-minute CD. Check this out!