Dizzy Gillespie is often referred to as one of the best jazz trumpeters of all time, and is credited along with Charlie Parker with being one of the most influential figures in the development of bebop. He was also known as a composer and band leader, and one of the key developers of Afro-Cuban jazz. By the time of the sessions that produced this album in September 1974, he was 40 years into his career as a musician, and still had nearly 20 years remaining as a performer.
Pablo impresario Norman Granz teamed Dizzy up with some like-minded musicians for the session, including bassist Ray Brown, with whom Gillespie had played numerous times, and drummer Mickey Roker, who also had recorded with Dizzy several times, including on the classic Afro Cuban Jazz Moods. Guitarist Joe Pass only sat in on one other Pablo session with Diz, the likewise classic Carter, Gillespie, Inc., but he fits in with this ensemble beautifully.
The program includes some standards such as Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” and Kurt Weill’s classic ballad “September Song,” as well as Irving Berlin’s “Russian Lullaby.” One other cover is the delightfully bluesy ballad “Hurry Home,” which Dizzy plays sometimes with a mute as he mostly does on this date, but stays in a lower register and on his second solo section plays straight. Pass and Brown contribute a lengthy section that can nearly be called a duet, Brown’s playing is so melodic. I get a big kick out of “Jitterbug Waltz” too, it’s such a jaunty arrangement (even before it kicks into the double-time bop section near the end). This release includes as one of the bonus tracks an alternate take of this tune, on which the differences (and similarities) are quite apparent — it’s an excellent education in the way jazz pros approach a tune differently every time they play it. The other alternate take is of “Russian Lullaby.”
The real news here, though, are the Gillespie compositions. there’s a great workout of one of Diz’s signature tunes, “Be Bop (Dizzy’s Fingers),” which’ll get your pulse racing if you still have one at all. The album opens with a tune that was new at the time but became another Diz classic, “Frelimo.” The tune is named for the Mozambique Liberation Front, part of the Africal independence movement that was part and parcel of the American Civil Rights movement by this time. It has elements of African jazz, American funk and a melody and rhythm that to me sound Brazilian, and is mostly quiet with occasional spurts of volume. And some of Gillespie’s signature bop technique of lightning-fast runs played with jaw-dropping precision.
The top tune in my book though is another Gillespie classic, “Birks Works.” The rhythm section’s just locked in and swinging, and Pass’s beautiful tone in his accompaniment of Gillespie is just wonderful. And the guitarist tosses off his solo section with a casualness that’s sure to bring a smile. Insoucient is the word I’d use for the whole arrangement and performance of this sly tune. Actually, for the entire album. You can just tell these four were having a grand time.
(Concord, 2013 / Pablo, 1974)
