Gillespiana / Carnegie Hall Concert

by Dizzy Gillespie

Product Description:

Contains 2 LPs on 1 CD: GILLESPIANA (1961)/CARNEGIE HALL CONCERT (1961).

GILLESPIANA:

Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, John Frosk, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry, Joe Wilder (trumpet); Urbie Green, Frank Rehak, Britt Woodman (trombone); Paul Faulise (bass trombone); James Buffington, Al Richman, Gunther Schuller, Julius Watkins, Morris Secon, William Lister (French horn); Don Butterfield (tuba); Leo Wright (flute, alto saxophone); Lalo Schifrin (piano); Art Davis (bass); Chuck Lampkin (drums); Jack Del Rio, Candido Camero, Willie Rodriguez (percussion).

Recorded in New York on November 14-16, 1960. Originally released on Verve (MGV 8394).

CARNEGIE HALL CONCERT:

Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie (vocals, trumpet); Joe Carroll (vocals); Leo Wright (alto saxophone, flute); John Frosk, Clark Terry, Nick Travis, Carl Warwick (trumpet); John Barrows, Richard Berg, James Buffington, Gunther Schuller (French horn); Paul Faulise, George Matthews, Arnet Sparrow, Britt Woodman (trombone); Don Butterfield (tuba); Lalo Schifrin (piano); Art Davis (bass); Chuck Lampkin (drums); Ray Barretto, Julio Collazo, Jose Mangual (percussion).

Recorded live at Carnegie Hall, New York on March 4, 1961. Originally released on Verve (V6-8423).

GILLESPIANA, originally released on two LPs by Verve in 1960, features legendary be-bop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in two New York performances, one live from Carnegie Hall. A full jazz orchestra backs him on each, and the fat, Latin-tinged sound is the result of a combustible collaboration with a young Lalo Schiffrin.

At the time of these recordings, Gillespie was interested in bringing be-bop out of the bars and into a more artistic light. His work here with Schiffrin was praised at the time, Gillespie stretching his own talents to accommodate the younger composer's more contemporary compositional ideas. The first five tracks, all Schiffrin compositions, are studio recordings and have a sweeping orchestral depth. The remainder of the recording is the Carnegie Hall performance, which is looser but marvelous, and includes a Schiffrin reworking of Dizzy's classic "Night in Tunisia," as "Tunisian Fantasy," on the final cut.