Dizzy Gillespie Alumni :Things to Come

Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Star Big Band
Things to Come

Telarc

Dizzy Gillespie was more than a trumpet player, more than an innovator and co-inventor of bebop. He was a tireless jazz communicator and educator, an example for younger musicians, a high-energy devotee of Afro-Cuban rhythms in jazz, a world-class composer and arranger, and a bandleader. That many forgot half the roles Dizzy played or didn't fully acknowledge his importance in jazz after the initial development of bebop didn't bother him. "History avenges itself, and this is history, the history of music", he once said. "Whether I get the recognition now, it will all come out. Because the records are out and the records are…well, a matter of record." The Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Star Big Band ensures that, recordings aside, Gillespie's music will continue to be heard and to inspire future generations of jazz musicians.

Things to Come was recorded live at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, PA, during four nights of performances in September 2001. The eighteen-piece group features an incredible lineup of talented musicians who have themselves been influential, including Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Renee Rosnes, and James Moody. Leading the organization is Musical Director and trumpeter Jon Faddis, once considered the "next Dizzy" among jazz fans and press. Faddis, who has been playing since the age of eight, became a protégée of Gillespie's and worked his way up to become the leader of this big band. He has had plenty of additional experience, having worked with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Band, Charles Mingus, Oscar Peterson, and Clark Terry as well as being a much in-demand session musician in New York City.

The arrangements on this album are built on Dizzy's ground-breaking big band bop charts and explode with energy right out of the gate with Benny Golson's "Stablemates" featuring soloists Greg Gisbert (trumpet) and pianist Renee Rosnes. The charming Quincy Jones tune "Jessica's Day" follows, featuring James Moody on tenor sax and Frank Wess on flute. Faddis plays as well, providing a suitable homage to Dizzy without being a carbon copy of the master's playing. Faddis has developed his own tone and is able to evoke Gillespie without being subsumed by his spirit, a truly amazing feat when you think about it. Gillespie's frantic "Things to Come" is representative of the approach he took to his bebop big band from 1946-1950. Faddis demonstrates his ample technique and ability to construct a solo for maximum effect, as do Slide Hampton and Renee Rosnes, both acquitting themselves extremely well. The trumpet section whips through its interlude between soloists, with Faddis playing the high octave, at breathtaking speed.

"Manteca", composed by Chano Pozo and Dizzy along with Walter Fuller and Frank Paparelli, comes from the Spanish word meaning grease or lard. Speaking of Pozo, Gillespie says "Everybody at that time was saying 'gimmee some skin.' 'Manteca' is something greasy. 'Manteca' was his way of saying 'gimmee some skin!" The updated chart here provides plenty of grease in both the Cuban rhythms of the original and an updated, funkier Latin beat that percolates behind solists Frank Wess (flute) and Rosnes. Jimmy Heat, Slide Hampton, and Faddis solo over a more swing-oriented rhythm. Overall the chart is one of the most powerful in the band's book. The arrangement of Monk's "'Round Midnight" utilizes the sax section, led by the gorgeous Johnny Hodges-like sound of altoist Frank Wess and punctuated by brass exclamations that are sharp and tight.

Other standout arrangements include a samba version of Oscar Hammerstein's "Lover Come Back to Me" on which Faddis displays his crystal-clear tone, Benny Golson's lovely "I Remember Clifford" which features trumpeter Terell Stafford, and Ray Brown's "Ray's Idea", featuring Claudio Rotiti on trumpet and Jimmy Heath on tenor sax.

This performance was recorded at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh. MCG is a nonprofit arts and learning center founded in 1968. The multi-discipline, minority-directed center is dedicated to fostering creative, intellectual and economic empowerment among disadvantaged people in urban communities. One of MCG's primary goals is the preservation, presentation and promotion of jazz and visual arts to stimulate intercultural understanding among audiences. To this end, they have developed MCG Jazz, a record label, which records and releases performances by the many artists who play at the Guild. Certainly releases such as Things to Come demonstrate the high standards of both the Guild and Telarc Records, and both are to be commended for releasing this tribute to the influence of Dizzy Gillespie on the future of jazz music.